Armored Hearts
by Lione 'Tabuukilla' Fortuna
Summary: Ever so slowly, the IS began to replace the AC, its proud pilots fading into history. For some, such as Operative 4034, it means retirement. But it doesn't mean the end for him or his Operator. Their roles suddenly flipped as they find themselves dragged to IS Academy, they'll find out what a normal life might just be like and how deep the mystery of their sudden replacement runs.
1. The Answer

**WEW.**

 **First, I'd like to apologize for disappearing for a month and a freaking half beyond my initial break. I just sorta lost all will to write after the end of Storms Overhead and my projects kind of just… died. Helios however, is in the works, and thanks to this story, I've gotten back into the swing of things. So expect an update for that… soon. Ish. Hell if I know XD**

 **I feel a little worried about this story, I guess. Not so much in the terms of writing quality, but more like… it's a new thing for me. It's going to be a lot different than what I've written before, I suppose, especially in regards to IS fanfics. Bah, probably gonna be wrong on that one, though.**

 **So, this story… well, let's just say over break I played AC4 and AC5 with my friends when I wasn't at college and we had some fun toting ideas around, I played through the Grisaia franchise and watched the anime version of it too, and then had a spark.**

 **Here goes.**

* * *

 **Chapter 1** : The Answer

* * *

The klaxon sirens ring on as I march through the hallways, my feet hitting the catwalks of the ship as I mentally prepare myself for my opponent. The walkways creak under my feet and I hear their rattles as commands blare out overhead.

It's a target we've never fought before. It's something straight out of science fiction—a mechsuit—that would be the best way to put it. They've already identified it as the same suit that dealt with the missile incident a while ago. Two thousand missiles… sensationalist headlines if I ever read them. I doubt even a single AC could deal with two thousand ballistic missiles launched at a country. Well, it might. It'd be rough if they were nuclear to not set them off by accident. It'd be unlikely a single AC would be sortied for such a mission.

" _Weiss, where are you?"_ A rather husky, female voice calls with an air of force behind it, the impatience clearly evident. I can practically _feel_ her right foot tapping on the floor.

"Making my way to my assigned hangar." I say, my feet picking up the pace, pressing and holding the button to let the communicator receive my voice.

" _Okay. Hurry it up, it's getting hectic out there."_

"Are we still going through with this? We've got a lot of ships from several nations coming in… No one's approved using an AC yet, right?"

" _Not as far as we know. Finally managed to get some time to get a hold of you for a personal briefing. You'll be using a prototype Vanguard Overbooster. It's the only way to shoot past all the mounting forces. We want to wrap this up before anyone deploys an AC."_

"Figures."

" _Meister will fill you in on the details when you get to your unit, but as a heads up… this enemy isn't like anything we've fought before. Stay safe. We'd rather not sortie you… but we're sending you because you're the best. Make it back home, Weiss."_

"Roger that, MT."

" _All right. Good hunting out there."_

I nod, starting to jog to the hangar. It's about two minutes before I get there. The place is bustling with activity—ACs are being loaded up, and the new AC that we've prepared just for this operation, the one that I'll be piloting, is standing tall with its fresh paint job of light grey. Shouts and loud vehicles are heard all over the place and a storm of whirling direction lights tell people where to go. While I'm the only one to be sortied, if it goes poorly or need to stall other ACs, it's likely the others will head out.

" _Weiss, is that you I see down below?"_ Another female voice, far younger to the one that spoke to me before, roughly in the teens, calls over my headset as I start climbing down the ladders to reach the cockpit area, contained in the head of the unit.

"It's me, Meister. I'm heading into the unit as we speak."

" _Good. Get in and get booted up, we'll attach the Prototype Vanguard Overbooster._ "

The cockpit opens up with a _hisssssss_ , revealing the insides where several screens and the controls for the unit are. Once I'm inside, I pull down on the red lever labeled **COCKPIT CLOSE** , causing another set of hisses to cry out as the doors seal me inside with a loud _CRHHHSUH_.

I sit down in the pilot's chair and lower the small headgear attached to it, feeling the cold metal band go around my forehead. My left hand grips one of the control units while my right hand flips through the switches all around the cockpit.

Several screens light up around me, giving me a view outside. The screens are labeled one through nine, giving me a roughly equivalent field of view with my human eyes. It helps with not getting disoriented with a unit. The screens can also have overlays if someone needs to communicate with me as well.

"Syncing comm headset to AC radio… Meister, can you hear me?"

" _I hear you, Weiss. We'll begin attaching the unit now."_

"Good." I reply, going through my equipment list. "…do you honestly expect me to win with this…?"

" _I'll go over your orders now. This is an expeditionary mission. You're to go in and evaluate the target's combat capabilities. If we had known about this sooner, you'd have been sent in with your optimal load out. But you need the lighter frame because you need to get out quickly. For this mission you'll be undergoing the title of 'Sea Glass'."_

"I see…"

" _You can engage if you want. We'll be using the combat data to evaluate how dangerous the target is."_

I nod, still paying attention to the status screen and noting that the booster has been attached. Two pistols and then two hangar blades… This is… I haven't used this in a while, huh…

"— _Weiss?"_

"Sorry, just a bit nostalgic."

If anything from the reports is to go by, this _is_ a faster enemy than normal. Smaller, too. The blades will be harder to get a hit on, but I have a feeling if I can score a hit, it'll be over very quickly.

"Alright. I'm connecting to the unit now."

" _Got it. Prepare for escalation in fifteen minutes."_

I nod again and close my eyes, taking a deep breath. My right hand goes back onto the other control unit. Feeling the cold metal, I let out another deep breath.

My voice echoes out in the small cockpit, this coffin of death, from which I have seen many lives destroyed and have had my life at risk many, many times. Without quivering, without fear, I activate the system that will decide my fate.

"A.M.S., engage."

I let out a small gasp as I feel the connection take place. AMS… the reason this machine can spew death. The reason it can move and react like a human. Because of AMS, I can have a one-to-one movement with the AS. In a way, one might say that I am the Armored Core and the Armored Core is me. It is slightly true, perhaps. Some AC pilots died out of shock… that is to say, they took so much damage with the link to the pilot's nerve system they simply died of shock.

My AMS compatibility is rather high for someone my age. The doctors theorized it might have to do deal with the fact I was exposed to piloting at such a young age. Of course, it comes at a cost. One that we're not even quite sure of what it is just yet. But one benefit is that for someone like me, piloting becomes second nature. It's as if I'm moving on the battlefield, not the unit itself.

About ten minutes before we surface, I'm told to move the unit to the staging area. Several trucks pull me along to the long stretch of empty hangar, where several clamps attach themselves to the AC to prevent it from moving around. Above this ceiling would be the blue ocean, huh… Well, either way, I should prepare to launch.

The rest of the ten minutes go by quickly. The lights outside flash switch to a rapid yellow-orange blinking on as the command goes through.

" _All crew, prepare for surfacing!"_

The entire place explodes into noise.

" _Ribbon Stream is surfacing—"_

"— _systems all green—"_

"… _no ships detect—"_

The radio chatter runs crazy as everyone begins giving alerts. Hundreds of voices giving status updates, yells, and confirmations on what's going on as we move closer to the surface.

I suppose the place is also lurching, too. But to me, it means nothing. I withstand G-forces far greater than that due to the connection with AMS on a normal basis while fighting in AC units. As we rise, the hangar lights up like a runway, with small red lights showing me the path forward.

" _Sea Glass, can you hear me?"_

"I copy you, Operator. Sea Glass is ready for operation."

" _Prepare for launch. As soon as we break through to the surface, you'll be sent out. We've already set you to face the target's last known position. The VOB will allow you to cross the roughly two hundred mile distance in six minutes."_

"Damn, this unit's fast… Is command absolutely sure about sending me in this unit?"

" _It's all we've got to avoid being fired on."_

"Haaa…" I grip the controls as the sirens go off and an alert comes up on my screen alerting me to the hangar opening up. "VOB, charging."

" _Good hunting, and stay safe. Hold on, I've got an update. Breaking surface in sixty seconds! Prepare for deployment!"_

"Understood. Say, Operator, since we're going to take off as soon as we break, I got a question for you."

" _Shoot."_

"Will you guide me to victory?"

" _Of course I will. I got your back."_

The klaxon sirens begin firing off even more as I see a timer pop up on my screen. It begins counting down as I grip the controls. I exhale and focus. Here we go.

Five.

Four.

Three.

Two.

One.

" _Surface broken! Ten seconds to stabilizing and opening hatch!—Hatch is opening! Hangar is being converted to quick launch flight deck!"_

Gears and engines churn all around as the ceiling unfolds, letting the color of the clouds filter into the hangar area. The sky's a mix of greys, with the sun not even visible. Normally the folds would go all the way down and the ship would become one hell of a battlecruiser with AC and jet launching capabilities, but the limited version allows us to launch an AC and then dive right away.

I activate the VOB— _"Vaulted Overbooster activated and charging, everything looks good!"_ —and see readouts flare on the screen. One hundred percent.

" _Catapults active!"_

The catapults here give me a headstart but as soon as they finish launching me out of the hangar, I let the charge go. My speedometer spikes to something around two thousand kilometers per hour. The world zooms by through the screens, the high speed cameras doing their work. My screens update, giving me wind, temperature, altitude, my speed, and all sorts of relevant battle information appears overtop the camera outputs of the top right screen.

Five minutes pass by quickly.

" _Warning, VOB exhausted in thirty seconds!"_

"Got it!"

" _Outsider ships detected!"_

"Watch the cameras, Meister, get me some identities! Tap into their comms if you can! I'll shoot past them, there's no way they'll be able to hit me at this speed!"

The radiation shouldn't be too much, either. The VOB won't expose them too much, so we're still within mission parameters. Using these types of equipment is… rather rare, and getting our hands on them is rough considering the legislation against them.

Those thirty seconds go by quickly, upon which I eject the equipment and the thrusters all over my unit fire, pushing me forward. Still maintaining a decent amount of speed. Four hundred kilometers an hour…

" _Ah… Lots of open chatter asking who the hell that unit is! Also, I've got Canadian and American ships—looks like I've also got Japanese and Australian ships!"_

I use the unit's own Overbooster and charge forward, avoiding create too much of a wake and stirring them up. However, this unit shouldn't be in any database.

The target was roughly thirty five kilometers ahead. I'll make it in just over five minutes, traveling at about six times their speed.

"Give me the classes of those ships, I wanna know what's behind me." I say, now putting plenty of distance between me and the small fleet.

" _They're just small expeditionary force. Twenty four ships. Australian navy, I've got two Anzac classes, one Leeuwin class—this one's the scout, and three Adelaide class frigates. From Canadian forces I've got six Halifax class frigates. Japanese fleet, two Izumo class helicopter destroyers, three Akizuki classes, and a looks like a Atago class destroyer. As for the American fleet, four Ticonderoga class cruisers and two Arleigh Burke classs destroyers."_

"A lot missile systems, huh… Against an enemy rumored to be able to cut down missiles."

" _Not too many people have guns anymore. A lot of navy power is guided missiles and aircraft."_

"Mhm. A small expeditionary force… looks like not everyone's willing to go all out. Smart. How long do I have?"

" _Thirty minutes, give or take. You're traveling at roughly four hundred kilometers an hour, just over six times their speed."_

"Long enough, then."

There aren't any disturbances for the next three minutes.

" _Warning, I've detected the enemy from your radar unit. It's stationary. Open waters… it'll be thirty seconds until you can clearly see it. One minute until you're into engagement range."_

"Copy that."

" _It's probably detected you, by the way. But it's remaining stationary despite the fact I'm pretty sure those radar detections are coming from it."_

"Got it. Let's go."

" _Warning, looks like we've got a storm incoming. Try to wrap it up by then. Picking you up during a storm is never fun."_

"Got it."

I switch my broadcasting channel over with nothing more than a thought.

"Hey there." I say, broadcasting my voice out, albeit through a vocal changer. "What the hell are you? A drone? Some new type of Armored Core?"

I'm already looking at the data from weather readouts and preparing on how to eliminate my opponent. The arms of the unit start shifting, aligning to shoot the rather fearsome looking unit. It looks something like a knight out of some sci-fi book.

…no response.

"Hmph." Thermal scans… there is definitely a person in there. But they simply won't acknowledge me. "Do you at least have a name?"

Sile—

" _White Knight."_ A cool, somewhat androgynous voice says back as the enemy target activates an energy blade, still standing in the air.

"Sea Glass."

With that, all talk stops. Only the sound of the ocean waves crashing and the wind going at approximately two kilometers per hour north-north-east make sound. The two of us stop there. The air thickens. I lock onto my opponent, the mechanical arms of the AC shifting ever so slightly. Ten seconds pass by.

And with a white flash of light from my Quickboosters, guns firing, the enemy's sudden charge, the battle begins.

* * *

" _Sea Glass, watch your AP!"_

I zip around the battlefield, down to only my back up energy blades. The reduced frame allows for quick movement, putting me on equal terms with my opponent in terms of speed—no, better. My speedometer is giving me something about two thousand KPH when I QuickBoost. More than enough for dealing with the swarms of missiles launched at me.

It zooms forward, intending to cut me with its short energy blade. The small frame of the enemy makes it hard to hit, but compared to me it's very slow. I've only taken hits because the expeditionary force has been attempting to hit both us and the unknown unit.

My QuickBoosters fire up, creating an amazingly bright white flash in the pouring rain from the storm that came in. As soon it tries to pull away, I counter attempting to cross-slash my opponent. The energy blades burn through the night, but my opponent—while lacking in sheer speed, has much more flexibility compared to the Armored Core.

Whatever that human-sized system with the mechanical suit is, it's nimble. It navigates the space through my blades easily, but when it tries to whip around and attack the cockpit of the AC, I trigger another QuickBoost and get away.

We're at an eternal statement. At this point it's all a matter of who fucks up first. Neither of us have really made a daring attempt at a finishing move due to the sheer amount of ships around us. Putting ourselves in a risk position might mean that one of these outsiders might be able to take us out.

The battle rages on and on. No one can get the upper hand.

" _Sea Glass, Command's orders! Retreat!"_

"The hell are you talking about?!" I grumble, knowing that if I just ignore the ships around us, I can finish this.

" _Too many for Command's liking! Not to mention that they're hitting you! Pull out right away, we can't risk you being too vulnerable!"_

"Screw that noise…!"

" _Sea Glass,_ _ **retreat!**_ _That is an order from High Command!"_

A different voice this time. Dammit…

My AP's at six thousand. One more hit… one more hit…!

"…fine. Sea Glass is withdrawing from the battlefield." I say, charging up my Overboosters again.

And with a flash of light, I vanish.

* * *

My eyes shoot open, revealing the ceiling of a dim room that looks more like a metal box more than a living quarter.

"…Goddammit."

"Someone's in a cheery mood."

"Put a sock in it, Mei." I mutter, rising from my cot to grumble at the girl who's in the bed next to mine. At the moment she's fixing up her chestnut colored hair while looking in a mirror that reflects her light green eyes. "Status report?"

"Nothing major going on, though it's current seven hundred and thirty hours. What's got your panties in a knot?" she replies, firing back words seamlessly. As expected of my Operator.

"I had that dream again. Operation Checkmate."

The smile on her face quickly vanishes as she sighs, sitting down on her bed that's next to mine. "Still upset about that? That was three, almost four, years ago."

"I could've won." I immediately say back.

"Your AP was below ten percent. Not to mention you couldn't focus on the target, all those ships were firing on you and you had instructions not to kill them. A bit of an idiotic command in hindsight, but it would've resulted in a lot more covering up if we had to deal with twenty four manned ships vanishing."

"All I needed was one more hit. White Knight needed at least six more. I could've won." I mutter, standing up from my bed. "Great, not even eight o'clock and I'm already pissed. I guess if you're not in a hurry, then we're off again today."

"Isn't that the norm?" Meister asks with a bitter shrug. "After all, no more resources tend to go out to AC pilots, so there's rarely anything that requires _us_ to sortie. But to answer your question, it's fairly quiet today. A little too quiet for my tastes… entire base seems to be on standby for something. Higher ups have been fairly quiet about it, though."

"…Hm."

"Seemed to be a lot more guards than usual, especially when I went for my early morning run today. You know how I usually only pass through two checks? Four today."

"Odd." I mutter, putting a shirt on and stretching. "You shower yet, or are you just waiting for me to get my ass in gear after sleeping so much?"

"I mean, you had an operation two nights ago so I don't blame you." Her eyes and smile suddenly turn into a teasing one. "And… is that you saying you want to shower with me?"

"Yeah sure, if I want Emma to castrate me. Meet up at the mess hall?"

"Mmm."

Mei gives me a laugh and ruffles my hair before leaving the room. We're back on the ground base compared to where Operation Checkmate took place, on the submarine AC launcher _Ribbon Stream._ Usually we stay on the land base and take a plane to be dropped in or we'd have a flight launcher from Ribbon Stream after boarding that submarine. The base is situated on an uncharted island, so there's a port for the submarine. Quite useful.

I do a few pushups and stretches before taking a small rest and then going to the men's showers, opening up my locker and pulling out my usual shower kit. Unfortunately it's a cold shower this morning, but I guess I'm awake.

Afterwards, I put on the standard uniform of the company, combing my dark brown hair in the process. The uniform itself is nothing fancy for pilots. Just a standard anti-g suit that's dark grey. On the right shoulder is their emblem, designed as two Hs that partially overlap one another. The rest of the world has many titles for our various operatives who take on missions across the world; however, I suppose none of them know our true name, _Hidden Hand._

I blink a few times in the mirror, confirming that I'm recovering from my sleepless nights as the blood around my red eyes is starting to fade away. With a little more jig in my step, I walk over to the mess hall, where I find Mei waiting for me with her back against the drab wall, arms crossed and her right fingers tapping her left arm. What are you, some schoolgirl waiting on a date?

"Took you long enough. Now all the good stuff's going to be gone."

"Give it a rest." I say, not bothering to mention we all get the same shit anyways.

Breakfast is a simple affair. As per usual, I end up trading my oatmeal bowl for Mei's bran muffin, leaving me with my apple and orange juice.

"I still don't understand why you can't eat oatmeal, but will eat that damned tasteless muffin."

"Probably the texture—"

"ATTENTION!" someone calls out. "VIPs!"

Everyone in the hall, including us, immediately stand up and hold a stiff salute while whipping around to face the origin of the call, adjusting our sights to look for the VIP. Two people who we don't usually see, but everyone knows about, walk in dressed as if they were about to go to a corporate meeting. Garvin Medalia and Rebecca Ivorin, the negotiators and might I say head honchos of _Hidden Hand._

My question of _What the hell are they doing here_ is answered after they tell us to be at ease: just nothing more than an announcement that the testing bay will be closed for today due to some unforeseen maintenance. Which I guess is the official statement for all of us, but the fact that it's _them_ telling us means "Don't you dare question it" without actually having to say that. Meaning that our affiliates are probably watching.

I notice Mei looking around the room too, for anyone who doesn't quite seem to belong in this room as the two heads leave. As soon as everyone calms and sits down, Mei leans in close and starts whispering.

"Ooooh, what do you think is going on in there?"

"Whatever it is, it probably has to deal with the added security. Keep your voice down, too."

"Pleh. Everyone else is clearly talking about it, though."

"But do _you_ want to be brought in for questioning?"

"Weiss. Meister." A somewhat smug and commanding female voice (on the lower pitches of that, too), calls out to us. Mei and I immediately snap our backs straight as a blonde, curly-haired woman sits down in front of us. Some of the buttons of her dress shirt are starting to slip out of their holes as if they were haphazardly done, but her brown jacket is hiding it well.

Also I neglected to mention that while I call Mei… well, _Mei_ , her official name on the books is Meister. Strange, but that incident goes a while back.

The woman in front of us at the moment—and infinitely more important, too—is our handler for Operative Unit 4034, or Mei and I, the Pilot and Operator of Armored Core unit _Orbital Static_ : MT. She has said that in casual times, it is okay to refer to her as Matilda, however I do not believe for a second that is her real name and is another safeguard in the event pilots are captured.

"Calm down." She says, with Mei and I slightly relaxing. "At nine hundred thirty hours, you two are to report to Briefing Room Three."

Both of us nod silently, though I give Mei a small glance without moving my head. I notice Mei does so too, and in the span of a millisecond, a silent conversation occurs.

" _Any idea of what's going on?"_

" _I don't know. Surprise operation?"_

" _We would've just been carted there and given details on the way."_

" _Probably secret."_

" _Think it has to deal with security today?"_

" _Probably."_

"Do I have confirmation that you'll both be there?"

"Yes ma'am." We say together in unison. With that, MT nods and then leaves us, Mei and I each breathing a sigh of relif. However, the anxiety doesn't go away. Both of us being called… that would imply we have a piloting mission. But I've kept up and it seems most of our pilots that aren't currently deployed are here. If it was anything to the point I was sure I'd be sortieing, I'd have known about it. Operative Unit 4034 is not deployed for just _anything._ The last time I was surprised for any sortie was Operation Checkmate.

After about thirty seconds of silence, Mei and I wrap pinkies around each other for a brief second, shake them, separate, and go back to eating quickly.

Just as instructed, we arrive to Briefing Room Three at the proper time. As soon as we're led inside, the two of us snap another sharp salute. The head honchos…

"At ease, the two of you." Garvin says, a small grin on his face. He's an aged man and it shows, with the wrinkles on his dark skin and greyed hairs. "Please, have a seat."

With that, the door closes behind us. Mei and I give a brief glance to each other before taking our seats in unison, moving as a unit. The positioning of the room is that to our right is our handler, MT, and to our left are the heads. There's a projector in here for displaying anything like video if needed as well. The lights are still on, too.

"You should already be aware that anything that is said in this room is top secret." MT says in her usual rough and steady voice. "Not a single person outside this room is to be told about what goes on in here."

"Yes ma'am." We snap back as usual, before the silence comes back in.

"What do you want from us, sir, ma'am?" I say, taking the initiative after about ten seconds.

"We are here to discuss a potential opportunity… regarding the closure of the training bay today." Rebecca says after a cue from Gavin. "The added security is due to the presence of Infinite Stratos testing."

I sense she pauses as it's probably visible—no, **completely** visible that I'm pissed. It's not a secret on base what happened during Operation Checkmate. I was almost put on suspension and in containment because I was absolutely _seething_ after that command to withdraw. Pretty much I wasn't put on a mission for a good damn two weeks until I was cleared.

I know those enemy ships were there but I know I could've won if I just ignored them for just a damn second. And the fact that battle was a key launching point for the IS…

"C-continue, please, ma'am." Mei says after coughing to clear her throat.

"It's relevant to the both of you. You two are both well aware of IS Academy, correct?" Both of us nod. "And the two of you are roughly of age. A bit on the older end for a first year student, but young enough that the Academy will take you."

"Um, permission to speak freely, sir?" Mei says as Gavin pauses.

"Go ahead."

"Why is Weiss here, then? IS Academy only takes female students."

"You two have operated as a cohesive unit for piloting ever since you two arrived here. Considering that Weiss is this company's ace pilot despite being so young, if you were to become a student there, Meister, Weiss would need to find a new operator."

Mei immediately stands up, pushing her chair back and putting her hands on the table. "I won't do it. Weiss and I are a unit, sir. Besides, there aren't any spare operators who can keep up with Weiss and know him well enough."

"Please, let me finish."

I put a hand on Mei's left hand, giving her a comforting nod as she turns to look at me. She lets out a long sigh before sitting back down.

"I apologize for my outburst, sir."

"It's fine. Ahem, where was I… Ah yes, we _will_ also be attempting to get Weiss in as a special student training to become an Infinite Stratos Operator, filling in a role similar to you right now. He already has the credentials for it, seeing as that when Weiss has been unable to pilot and you were unable to act as an Operator, he filled in your shoes quite well."

Neither one of us argue against that, mainly because we don't like to talk about those incidents. The times because of my mistakes, I forced Mei to pilot.

"Though, I would also like to stress that you don't fail the synchronization test on purpose. We also brought you here because if this doesn't work, then you two will be part of our experimental rehabilitation program for the retirement program."

The two of us blanch at the mention of the **r** word. Retirement…

"I won't lie to the two of you. With the rise of the Infinite Stratos, it looks like the age of the Armored Core is coming to a slow and quiet end. It's very costly to sortie and maintain Armored Core units. A lot of money is going into funding Infinite Stratos research and more places are seeing them as the replacement to the Armored Core.

It's fishy, if you ask me. The AC has better shields, better armament capabilities, better armor if the shields run out, and is _well worth_ its extended costs. The only downside I can really think of is the fact AMS is _very_ likely to be fatal if you're piloting a NEXT, but even then it's not like NEXT units are running around willy-nilly. As I've seen the AC slowly being phased out, I just feel... there's something _deeper_ behind this.

Regardless... It'll be tricky due to the laws governing Infinite Stratos usage and all that, but there's no doubt in mind that one day organizations will be able to purchase the usage of Infinite Stratos units like Armored Cores.

"I'll spare you the details as well, but it seems there's been an understream movement to push the AC out of the picture. This has a twofold effect as well. If we do not face removal, then there is no doubt we will be pitted against the IS, both socially and also on the field of combat. Meister will be there to learn fighting, and Weiss, you will be observing, so that in the hopefully unlikely event you are called on to fight an IS, you will have the techniques and knowledge of how to deal with them."

Mei and I glance at each other before Gavin takes out a cigarette and lights it, giving a puff. "With that… we may very well be facing the _retirement_ of the _company._ Thus, since you two have a lot ahead of you, you two will be the experimental group. Go and start living a normal life, or as close as you can to one. Forget _Hidden Hand_ existed."

"But…" Mei mutters softly, but in this quiet room it doesn't matter at all. Everyone can hear her. "…this is home."

Rebecca gives a smile. "I know it is. This base is home to many of us too. Lots of us have seen the AC through its various generations, back when they were just Normals to the rise of the NEXT, _Hidden Hand_ has always been in the background, somewhere, carrying out missions for the highest bidder. No sense of right or wrong, just who would pay the most. But who knows, we've got assets. We can turn it into a company. You two might graduate college after IS Academy and perhaps one of our covers would hire you…"

She trails off, although that's a nice way of thinking.

"Sorry." She says, muttering an apology. "Like Gavin said, it's experimental. You two will be part of that if the IS Academy plan isn't successful."

"Even if I do pass that sync test, unless Weiss is confirmed going, I won't go."

"Unfortunately, you don't have much of a choice. Our… benefactors—" By that, he means the US government, which picked us up when _Hidden Hand_ hit a really bad spell a while back—"are cracking down rather hard due to your exploits, the two of you. We might not be too affiliated due to our relationship to them, but those are our orders. If you pass, I don't think they're going to let you go."

So we're caught on all sides. There's no way out.

"…I'll comply. Should I report there right away?"

"The test will commence at twelve hundred ours at Test Bay Four, no need to go there now. If you have no further questions, the two of you are dismissed. You have no duties for today."

"Yessir!"

The two of us quickly head back to our room, not saying a word until we're both inside. Mei closes the door behind me and not a second after I hear the _click_ of the door, I feel something press up against my back and two arms wrap around me.

"Promise me something, Kazuma." Mei whispers.

"What is it, Mei?"

"…kill me if I pass."

"The hell?!" I break free and turn around, putting my hands on her shoulders. "The hell are you talking about?"

She looks up into my face, her bright green eyes having tears building up and then streaming out of them. Her mouth opens up multiple times but the words keep dying in her throat. I can feel her shaking as she pulls me in closer for a hug, crying into my chest.

"I… I don't… I don't want to become one of them!"

Ah…

For some of the missions, we don't just head out with an AC. Some of those missions involve heading out on foot. Sometimes it's for sniping. Sometimes it's an assassination. Sometimes infiltration. But it's how we keep up with society. Mei's speaking of how she's seen a real twist in society. More specifically, to how most of the world has suddenly adopted this really crappy 'men are weaker' mentality because everyone's forgotten what it meant to fight without an IS. Because only females can pilot an Infinite Stratos unit. Makes for some easy cover, I guess, when it's Mei and I infiltrating together.

"I won't let you." I say, pulling her closer. "Because I won't lose you."

She's silent about that.

I won't let you fall like that. Because it's my fault. If I had just won that day… if I had just defeated White Knight… this wouldn't have come to pass. So because of that, I will not let another thing be taken away from me.

"I won't kill you. But I will make sure, absolutely sure, you do not fall like that."

"…Mmhm."

"…You will be fine. I believe in you."

At noon, she has her test. I'm not allowed near the machine at all, so I'm forced to watch from afar behind the glass. I honestly don't know whether or not I want Mei to succeed or fail. It'd be nice if we could just… go together into a new life, but on the other hand, it just wouldn't be the same.

I can see a few suits here as well, along with MT and the head honchos. They don't pay me any attention as I'm not doing anything just yet. I can understand why Mei doesn't want to go alone, though.

…We've been together for as long as we can remember. Early on, during a family trip in Africa or at least, that was the case for me, I got taken in. Parents killed. Put in a camp. Raised a killer. Was assaulted in various means. Mei got stuffed into the same camp. We learned to fight. Learned to kill. Learned to murder. PMCs ravaged those lands, where AC usage was a lot harder to control. In more developed countries you had governments with branches and whole squads dedicated to this thing. It got worse when we they got their hands on NEXT units. It was bad enough with Normals.

I became something a nightmare among the lands due to my high AMC compatibility. The dreaded _Nightmare Breeze_ that left only dust behind. Around that time, Mei took over as my operator because she got clingy to me. She was smart enough to know she couldn't show it, though.

One day my crew got real gusty. Hit an American base in a raid. Wiped it off the map. We didn't expect _Hidden Hand_ coming down on our ass. Ah, I should explain. _Hidden Hand_ isn't from the US, but we're affiliated via mercenary and preferred client. However, circumstances over the years have forced them to get closer in, which might explain why Mei's being tested.

 _Hidden Hand_ has another, more concealed motive as well. They were also trying to stop the AC from ravaging the world. It has so much potential for destruction. Hell a NEXT is pretty much a walking sentient weapon of mass destruction. It was something that started recently. But regardless…

…we were met with annihilation. My unit was recognized and Mei shouted for me to get out and shut off AMS. They traced her signal and she surrendered but I wasn't about to let her go. After some negotiation, I stepped out of the unit, surprising everyone when it was a kid.

We were reeducated, rehabilitated, and brought into their fold. I wasn't fully indoctrinated, I had managed to keep my head along with Mei. I must've been… eleven, something like that. That's how fucked up those years were. About three-four years back, I took on White Knight in Operation checkmate.

Ha…

I wonder how things would have been in my normal unit. Well, perhaps it's not _mine._ _Orbital Static_ was the previous ace pilot's unit. I was taken under his wing when I was brought on board. He… unfortunately passed away.

"She'll have to past the test if she succeeds." MT says as we she walks over to me, the two us watching Mei walk out in her piloting suit which looks like fetishized latex. How the hell are you expected to breathe and move around in that sort of thing? Let alone if your shields fail, you have nowhere for any additional equipment. How smug, to not have any other protection than that unit. Even for me, there's emergency storage in my AC if I am forced to get out. There's been a few times that I've had to break AMS forcefully and eject out.

"…We both know that Mei will pass that test with flying colors if she wants to. She knows the inside and outs of an Armored Core and everything you could know about them. Give her a unit to study and she'll easily pass it."

"You put a lot of faith in her."

"Mei is my operator. She **is** my _lifeblood and savior_ on the battlefield. I trust her because of that. She has my back and I have hers. Any progress on the operator business?"

"Progress has been slow. It seems we're making a stand though… the IS Academy staff is a little reluctant due to the fact they've prefer to have domestic students try it out first, but…"

"Our created profiles would make it easy to create a case, right? I'm guessing that it showcases me as an operator and her as the pilot of the AC?"

She sighs. "Yes. It's a shame your piloting record—"

"Screw my record, MT. It's nothing more than a list of what I've done."

"Still though, you're a prodigy. It's a shame your achievements have to be credited to someone else."

"Ha, prodigy." I give a bitter laugh. "That term is for those who work to be good from an early age. I didn't work as much as I was forced to in order to survive. I don't mind it going to Mei either, it's for the both of us, after all."

MT gives a small smile. "Thought you'd say that."

"Must've been a pain setting those profiles up, with all the paperwork you'd have to flip around." I say as Mei activates the test unit, donning it and moving around. "By the way… do I get a license?"

She gives a _long_ sigh. "We're thinking about it. As long as you make sure not to make anyone pass out. I still don't know how you made Wei—er, Vacian pass out."

"It wasn't hard."

"That's not a good response!" She turns to look at Mei, who's kicking around and seems to have decent sync. "…she's a natural, isn't she?"

"Looks like it. How long do we know whether or not I'm going in?"

"You're second priority, unfortunately."

"…I know you're pissed. It's frustrating for me too. You two are my best team. I've seen the two of you become _godlike_ on the field. Knowing my best team is being torn apart is annoying as hell. But orders are orders."

"Hmph. I know those words too damn well. If you'll excuse me."

"Heading over to Orbital Static?"

"Yeah. Tell Mei I'll be there."

I walk over to the hangar, where my usual unit _Orbital Static_ , is standing proud and tall. It's based off the Y01-TELLUS, with a few modifications. While it's great for energy weapons, it does have a bit of problem with stabilization, but that's where Mei's skills as an Operator come into play.

She's amazing at programming along with being an Operator. She built an entire system for helping me stabilize the loadout and weigh distribution so I have roughly equal performance in all directions. There's also a problem with the arms in that they originally weren't great with recoiled weapons, but with some tuning that was fixed.

I climb up with some ladders and then enter the cockpit, not leaving it shut as I get into the seat. The setup is roughly the same as in _Sea Glass,_ with all of those screens. I don't bother putting on the band for AMS, but sit down in the seat regardless.

"Hey."

I lean over and turn my head around, finding Marisa—rank twenty three and pilot of _Sky Receiver,_ a quad-leg type AC with a ridiculous amount of firepower—walking in with her piloting uniform that's just like mine. Her medium length blonde hair is tied into a sidetail on her left side with a brown band that matches her eyes. "Oh, what brings you here?"

"Some of the other guys said you walked by and looked rather down. You wanna talk, pilot to pilot?"

"I can't divulge any information that I'd _like_ to talk about."

"Ah. What _can_ you talk about, then?"

"Well, I guess you could say that there's some operator changes." I say, sitting back in a normal sitting position as Marisa comes into the cockpit. "I might be moved off piloting duty. Medical stuff."

"Medical stuff?"

"AMS is a bitch, apparently."

"Ah, right… you've got really high compatibility."

"Turns out it has a price." I say seamlessly, without a single hint of it being a lie. "So looks like Mei might be moved off me. Being the ace pilot didn't really help out when it's possibly going to be a liability on the battlefield. That's about all I can say."

"Ah… well… hey, if you ever need us around, we're here for you. All the pilots are. Just come to us, mmmkay?"

"Heh. I'll give it a try. Say, I think it's another quiet day and it'll be the same going into the night."

"Pilots' night out?"

"Let's make it happen."

* * *

Mei didn't return that night. Or the next. But on the third day after that…

"H-hey…" Mei says as I walk into our room.

I find Mei packing her things into a bright pink rolling suitcase. Probably part of her cover.

"A-ah… I um… I passed. They didn't want me talking to you, orders…"

"I get it, don't worry. MT say anything?"

"She wasn't there."

"I see."

Before I can say anything else, Mei dashes over and hugs me.

"…you better make it. I'll be waiting for you for you to arrive. MT said you could be my operator, right? I won't be able to pilot unless I've got a really good one. And there's no one else I'd rather trust in the world with my life except for you. The only person who deserves to be watching me on the battlefield is you."

"I'll be right behind you. I won't go down fighting. Now… I'll leave. I'll just be a distraction. But until I arrive as your backup, remember this." I say, breaking away. "…You need to focus. This is an assignment. You're obligated to give it your full attention and capability. Allow for no distractions."

"Of course!"

"Good. Now… I'll eliminate a distraction for you. Excuse me…"

* * *

The next day I wake up, feeling somewhat empty. It's still seven o'clock in the morning. I take a look at my phone and note a message from MT.

" _AMS test cancelled today. Another day off."_

Figures. A sudden drop in incidents as slowly we've been taking care of them while the world shifted to the Infinite Stratos… we should've left all those war torn zones the way they were.

No, that's bad thinking. It still annoys me that we're being replaced like this.

I get up and go for a jog to clear my head. When I get back, MT is sitting on Mei's bed, waiting.

"MT."

"Weiss." She says, standing up. "Just thought I'd give you a progress update in person."

"I guess you've got a lot of time on your hands, then."

"You could say that." MT grumbles, crossing her arms. "All I've been doing is monitoring Mei. Getting her acquainted with IS Academy. How boring. It's not like she can't handle school life, and Mei has blended in easily before. Honestly…"

"Progress?"

"Slow. It's a back and forth negotiation the whole way. But we may be making some traction."

"Any news of a backup Operator?"

"None. At this point… it'd take White Knight showing up against or news of some unknown IS circulating our information networks for us to even consider sortieing you again…"

"Dammit. My skills are going to fade at this point." After saying that, I go over to my bed and sit down, putting my right hand on my chin. "I haven't sortied in an AC for three weeks. Our training has been reduced to VR rather than live fire exercises. My last deployment was right before Mei took her synchronization test. I know it takes a long time for skills to get rusty, but this ridiculous."

"…we're facing retirement, obviously."

"But even then, to not even have an operation on foot… MT, is there another group?"

"You aren't authorized to know if there even is one." She says, putting her middle finger and pointer finger on the corners of her mouth. So, she's not completely sure yet.

"Given the circumstances, it seems that there's a more convenient group than us."

"Four oh three four."

My back snaps up straight. If she's using those numbers…

"That's dangerous talk. And nowhere near your area of dealing."

Dangerous talk. Right… saying something like that might make me a danger if I can put the pieces together.

"…right. Sorry. I should just stick to piloting and following orders. Conspiracy theories are just that."

She smiles, although we both know this is all an act in case someone's listening. "Correct."

Sending Mei out might be a way to preserve personnel. There's no doubt Mei is a skilled operative. Train her and bring her into the IS fold, they don't have to… _retire_ her by forced means. We should all recognize that we're at risk here. We have intel on several operations of an unfavorable nature. If we cannot be brought into service, then we will be eliminated to clean up loose ends.

That is why I doubt this whole retirement plan. It sounds like a farce to move onto something else. Of course, it'd be better to just keep my head down and act like a faithful dog in order to not attract any unwanted attention. I'm sure our benefactors would not appreciate someone asking too many questions.

"…how's Mei doing?"

"Fine. It seems she's made a few friends already, blending in quite nicely with the other girls from the US that are going to the Academy."

"Well, Mei never did too much killing now. That was more of my role. She just spotted most of the time, but wasn't afraid to kill when necessary. We survived those wastelands, after all."

"Mmm. A fact that will never change. Anyways, I need to go for a drink."

"MT, it's not even nine in the morning."

"Negotiations went on for a long time and I woke up not even two hours ago, the next meeting is in two days. I'll do as I need." MT says, standing up and walking over to the door, opening it.

"Keep me posted."

"Will do. Keep yourself sharp, Weiss."

"I'll try, but having some live fire would keep me at my peak. I'll dull and rust if I just run exercises over and over again."

"Do what you can. After all, the legendary four-oh-three-four wouldn't be laid so low by a vacation now, would he?"

"4034 is a unit." I mutter as she exits, closing the door behind her. "4034 has always… been a unit, after all."

As the door completely closes with a _click_ , I'm left alone. I collapse onto the bed, splaying out my limbs and looking up at the ceiling.

…Four-oh-three-four… what's going to happen to us?

* * *

 _ **Armored Hearts**_

* * *

MT brushed up against a fake plant in the hallway, triggering a mechanism that began scanning. She looked up at the fourth tile from the left, roughly three meters ahead of her, on the ceiling. The small embedded scanner locked onto her eye and scanner, triggering the next one roughly twenty seconds later after she turned right at the intersection. This one scanner her right eye before setting off the next trigger.

Her feet tapped on the row of tiles next at a normal walking pace. The timing was impossible to put a pattern on, but it was a successful run. As she pushed the button for the elevator, it scanned her fingerprint, granting her special access.

She entered the elevator and pressed the 4 button before leaning back and resting on the rail, pushing another hidden button disguised as a screw.

 _A lot to remember, but it's for safety._

The preloaded footage of her getting off loaded into the security footage as she stepped off on the incorrect floor, finding several key movers and shakers of _Hidden Hand_ sitting around.

"Sorry to keep you, but I needed to ensure 4034-A wasn't going to do anything drastic." MT said as she sat down at her appointed seat. "Reporting that 4034-A and 4034-B are undergoing separation treatment as expected."

"Good." Rebecca said, all the warmth in her voice gone.

"Although, I'd like to also report 4034-A may be getting suspicious of the 'retirement' program."

"Keep him in line. We can't have anyone outside the organization wanting to get their hands on him because he's thinking too much. Or at least, not vocally. As long as they don't get wind, it's fine." Rebecca fired back before looking at Gavin, who gave a nod. "We'll have him sortie in two days. Acting sniper to a squad. Nothing major, we'll just get a metric on his performance. We've already gotten the permission for him to go, but we'll hold off just a little longer."

"Understood, ma'am."

"The others, status reports on our investigations?" Gavin chimed in after MT leaned back in her chair.

"White Knight investigation still at its last reported state."

"Sea Glass incident leaks making some progress, but tracing who leaked them is causing some delay."

"Synchronization Sickness investigation is simply awaiting more data to analyze."

"Good. Now… as soon as 4034-A is sent to IS Academy and we have confirmation, we will commence Operation Melancholic Set. Also…" Gavin pushed a button, displaying a hologram in the middle of the room of what appeared to be an AC, although upon closer analysis, looked more like a bastardization between a NEXT and a Normal. "…we will now be covering the progress of our latest project codenamed _VERDICT DAY._ "

* * *

 _ **Armored Hearts**_

* * *

I open my eyes, finding the same ceiling again. I've been getting used to waking up without Mei. I wonder how she's doing. How many friends she's made. It's been about a month since she's left.

I had another sortie a two nights ago. Playing sniper. It wasn't hard despite the suboptimal conditions. Really makes me appreciate having locking systems on the AC.

…Really though, I wasn't raised a sniper. It's an effect from what they've been calling _Synchronization Sickness._ The previous 4034 and the pilot of _Orbital Static_ was said to have piloted so much that his nervous system almost became one with the AC due to the link between nervous system and electronics.

Enough that when I inherited the title of 4034-A, the pilot, that when I linked into that unit, it seems my nervous system has partially changed in order to fit his own unit. I inherited his reflexes at sniping, his skill with it, by getting neural pathways I didn't have before.

The price for it though… even then, the medical staff isn't sure of what it is. It's certainly given me certain benefits, putting me on the level of 'super soldier' both in and out of the AC. Perhaps the price is my way of thinking is just off. My personality is fragmented. It's strange.

I guess the occasional nightmare is a price too, but it's not really something worth mentioning. They've at least gotten pills for that, since the former 4034 had pills for nightmares of the battlefield.

Still though… this entire thing is a mess.

"Weiss."

I immediately sit up and throw on a shirt, recognizing the voice. "Door's unlocked, MT."

She opens the door and closes it behind her. She's holding a manila folder in her hands that she silently hands to me.

I take it and then turn it around, looking for the label. Another mission?

"Holy shit, no."

"It went through." She says as I open up the folder labeled **[INFINITE STRATOS ACADEMY OPERATOR ASSIGNMENT]**. "Then again, I argued that Mei was your stabilizing factor. If they wanted to use you as their ace pilot again, without Mei you might go off the rocker. And no one even compares to you when you're at your best."

"…thanks." I mutter, reading over the papers. Looks like I'm supposed to blend in, just like Mei.

"Hey, I had some stake in it too, you know. Don't think I did it all for you."

"I keep you employed, huh?"

"Shaddup." She says, lightly whapping me on the head. "…I won't lie, though. Document R-3. This is part of your and Mei's retirement program."

"What."

"Yes, you heard me." She says as I find the relevant document. "If everything goes well… you won't be piloting an AC anymore. Or at least, you won't be intended to. It's not immediate, it's a three year long phase period. Once you graduate IS Academy… you'll have been officially retired from _Hidden Hand._ Looks like we can't stop that."

"Ah…"

"The era of the AC comes down to this, slowly fading away into the pages of history… what a shame. It couldn't have gone out in a blaze of glory."

"Hmph. But what if I'm suddenly needed?"

"It's over a period of three years. The retirement program is planning for us to speed up everything. You'll only be called if it's absolutely necessary, but the rest of us will be trying to wrap everything up. That way, any loose ends are tied up, any incidents or factions that are troublesome will be taken out ahead of schedule."

"Question, MT."

"Speak."

"Is there _really_ a three year long retirement program?"

We both know that the world isn't at true peace. Especially with the IS core distribution. It's a very unstable peace, which isn't peace at all. Not to mention that I'm sure that people have been trying to make inroads so they can try to hire an IS in private since it's a lot less obvious than an Armored Core attack… there's no way it'll only be three years.

"Of course. This comes from our benefactors and the heads of the company. You do trust them, of course?"

Her eyes flash dangerously, daring me to say otherwise. To question that would be… rather unwise if I kept at it.

"Sorry, it's just that you know, gotta be sure." I mutter back, watching MT curling her middle and pointer fingers in the air while reading over own papers. Ah, so that's how it is. "…I'll miss _Orbital Static._ When they scrap her… call me. I want to be able to say goodbye."

"Of course. I'm sure it'll be good for you. Should I inform Meister that you'll be arriving?"

"Ah, right. You needn't do that… oh, that's unexpected. I didn't think you'd go so far as to get me a full license."

"I didn't tell them—what."

I hold up a small plastic card that I pull from the folder. A full driver's license. No, not just a driver's license. It would be more along the license of simple small vehicle operation. Not limited to just automobiles. With this I could legally operate a small boat or aircraft too.

"Oh dear God…" MT says with a long sigh. "But, Weiss."

"MT."

"Just… even if you're supposed to forget everything about _Hidden Hand_ , when you go to the Academy, don't forget your origins of the Armored Core. You're acting as representatives of the Armored Core—to pilots everywhere, that no matter system, you'll kick ass. And eventually… you'll be put into the future systems. You and Mei need to show your stuff out there. Even though you're supposed to effectively 'retire', don't forget the house that built you."

"I would never dream of it. But what about you?"

"I don't know… I was thinking a condo somewhere on one of the Japanese shores. Maybe adopt you and Mei. Maybe try to adapt to society. It's going to be rough, considering home has been here for so long. Most of us are… not exactly happy about the retirement, mainly concerned we're going to be replaced with some other group just by the fact we're not an all-female group. Ha… well!" she snaps her hands together. " _You_ need to hurry. Your flight is soon, after all. You've got a lot on your plate. You won't have to take the test though, as you're not really in for _piloting_ an IS but just backing one up, but you've got to be prepared."

"I suppose. I have to mentally prepare myself, as well."

"Now, for the small details. Mei was shipped off to begin some crash course training for the IS to get her prepped up off to the side with those other girls who were selected to go to IS Academy from the US. You will be undertaking the similar treatment, but for Operators, so you aren't just spouting off what Mei has done for you."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Now get packed. You've got a lot to cover in a short amount of time."

That I do…

…so it looks like things are moving forward. With too many things happening in the background, for my tastes…

* * *

 **Whew. Long chapter.**

 **But I had a lot of fun with this idea. A world with the AC at first, but then the IS slowly (well, more like not-so-slowly) phasing it out. Note that Weiss has had doubts about the sudden shift, so there's quite a lot to dig up. But man, I had a lot of thoughts going into this one and after like, four attempts at writing this chapter, I think it's good.**

 **You might say I was partially inspired by the Grisaia series along with Full Metal Panic on this one, with the whole child solider brought into organization, turned loose on normal-ish society, since no doubt the society and world culture in the IS series is very different than what one would have in real life. And** _ **yes**_ **, it does slightly bother me with the timeline as well, but oh well, it was to avoid having Weiss piloting the AC to fight White Knight at like, 8 years of age. There's a lot to uncover.**

 **I'll be trying to incorporate some elements from AC (such as the companies) into the world, but you'll notice I definitely glossed over Kojima particles. I haven't** _ **quite**_ **figured out how I'm going to put that in there, but I'll see if I can. I was tempted to just leave it out of there, but it was such a crux part of AC4 (and even moreso in 4A) I feel obligated to put it in there, but if it becomes detrimental to do so, well, I'll leave it out. I'd rather not drag down the whole story for one mechanic. I** _ **did**_ **slightly sneak it in there with Weiss noting the rare usage of the VOB and the legislation.**

 **ANYWAYS, meta stuff.**

 **Holy crap, this story. I felt so** _ **alive**_ **while writing it, like, getting back from the low that finishing Storms Overhead left me at. It felt so nice, playing around again and just… yeah. Like, it's hard to describe, but I feel like I'm enjoying writing again. An idea that I want to take all the way and just see how it plays out, and all that. Yeesh.**

 **I don't know how often I'll update on this, depends on the reception really. But regardless, I really feel that _I'm back_ in writing. And I'll ride this new high for as long as I can.**


	2. Insertion Point

**Wew, here we go! Had this one lined up and decided I'd just put it up so I stop thinking about it during class (lol). Glad to see there was some response to the story! I'll be continuing it with a little more swing in my step then, as this is probably going to be my main project.**

 **Alright, been a while since I was excited for this part so… REVIEW REPLY TIME, GOOOOOOOOOOOO!**

 **BrokenLifeCycle:** Mmm, yes. I believe I should have done a better job at explaining that something is _off_ about how fast the AC was replaced. If you ask me, the AC would definitely be a lot better and harder to replace, but hopefully with my ninja edits and this chapter, it's a little more evident that something is working behind the scenes with the IS uprising. Thanks for reading!

 **Kerlongsj Evert Orlejov:** It's gooood to be back. Also while it's not necessary to know too much about the AC series, you probably could find enough on YouTube to understand what's going on. Also the AC isn't necessarily inferior (damn I _really_ need to work on making it seem like the IS has some hidden backers). Also I was never really too much for originality, I just want to build a world and play around in my sandbox XD Thanks for reviewing!

 **Argorok:** Thanks! I hope I can keep it interesting today.

 **Courier47:** Hehe, yeah it's uh, probably not my usual work. I hope that today's chapter keeps that trend alive and that the story keeps going on strong. Thanks for stopping by!

 **Bleeegh, I really wish I had done a better job in describing that the IS' overtaking of the AC wasn't exactly "natural", as in, it should feel** _ **off**_ **and that feeling should be somewhat** _ **evident**_ **to the reader. If I still fail to do that by the end of this chapter, let me know.**

 **Without further ado, here we go!**

* * *

 **Chapter 2:** Insertion Point

* * *

I sit calmly in the faculty office, reading a copy of the latest _Famitsu_ issue as part of my "blending in" while waiting. I chose to also take in some grey-red clip-on earphones that I'm using to play music from my cellphone. My hair isn't as well combed as it usually is, and I've left the top two buttons of my shirt unbuttoned while also not bothering to button the school's jacket.

This uniform is quite gaudy, though. And the fabric is a little stiff. At least we're not mandated to wear a certain type of shoes, but in order to blend in I decided to wear black sneakers.

It seems pretty busy here this morning, as it's the first day of class. Between all three of the copiers, they've managed to jam five times in the last hour.

"Kazuma-kun?"

I look up and immediately take out my clip-ons. I stand-up straight and push down the urge to give a salute to the blue-black-ish-haired woman standing in front of me. It might just be the lighting in the room.

She's dressed in a grey pantsuit, a small red ribbon around her neck. Her hair is cut short, combed straight and coming down to just above the bottom of her collar. In her left hand is a tablet in a protective case. She brings it up and scrolls through it.

"Yes, ma'am."

"Awaiting your classroom assignment, correct?"

"Yes, ma'am."

She puts the tablet down so I can look at her face. "I am your teacher, Yumemi Hakuno."

"Pleased to meet you, Yumemi-sensei." I say, offering a hand, which she takes with her free hand. "Operator Kazuma Weiss reporting for class."

"Good to have on board. Your record is very impressive. I hope you will continue to be as productive as you were at your previous post."

"I will do my best, ma—Yumemi-sensei."

She nods. "Please follow me, I will lead you to your classroom."

I put away my magazine into the suitcase-bag of sorts I was given for class, pick up the bag, and then nod before giving a bow. "Thank you very much, Yumemi-sensei."

The two of us begin walking, out of the faculty office and through the hallways. I definitely stir up plenty of whispers, as I doubt the entire academy was alerted to me. Of course, there is also the _other_ boy.

Orimura Ichika. The single boy who can pilot the Infinite Stratos for unknown reasons. He's gotten a lot more attention and more of the girls are talking about him, it's just that I happen to pass by that grabs their attention.

"You were already given the basics, correct?"

"Yes, Yumemi-sensei." I say evenly. "I have also just received my room assignment this morning."

"You were also informed of any special cases?"

"Yes, I am well-informed of what facilities I am not allowed to enter and of the private changing rooms I am to utilize in order to preserve the public morality, Yumemi-sensei."

She gives a snort as we turn at a corner. "Heh, seems they were spot on. You shouldn't be a problem, then."

"I'll do my best not to be a nuisance."

She stops us in front of Class 1-D. "Wait here. Preferably out of sight."

I move over to where you can't see me from where I estimate the seats to be.

With that, she opens the door, calmly opening it before throwing the rest of the door to the side, causing a clatter. "Sit down, class is about to begin." Ten seconds go by. "No—"

She's interrupted by loud cries coming from what is probably Class 1-A, which I hear that Orimura Chifuyu, the legend herself, is teaching. I peek in, keeping out of sight, finding my teacher sighing.

"— _NOW_ , I have an announcement. We will have a special student joining us. They have not joined this class right away due to special circumstances. Please, come in and introduce yourself."

I walk into the room, stepping up onto the small podium platform, going to the center. Miss Yumemi is standing at her desk which is against the wall on the far side of the room. I look into the windows, seeing the reflections in them, scanning the crowd. Roughly twenty three students. A familiar face, hm? Seems Mei's in my classroom.

I take one of the markers and begin writing my name horizontally. Kazuma is written with the characters 'kazu' meaning "harmony, peace, soften" and the other 'ma' meaning "real, true". I write 'Weiss' in katakana. After that, I set the chalk down and turn around on my heels.

"My name is Kazuma Weiss. I am here as a test student for the Infinite Stratos Academy's plan to introduce a curriculum strictly for raising Operators. I cannot pilot an Infinite Stratos unlike Orimura Ichika, so I will clarify that right away. I look forward to working with all of you."

With that, I give a deep bow. I am quite familiar with Japanese customs, I suppose, due to infiltrations and that before my kidnapping, I was born in Japan.

"Hmm… as for your seat, it seems there's a spot behind Cayden-san. Cayden, raise your han—"

"Here, here!" she says, raising her hand and waving it. "It looks like you kept your promise, Kazuma."

"Oh?" Miss Yumemi asks, getting up on the podium as I leave it.

"I served as Cayden's Operator for some time. My promise, as I made back when I first became her Operator, was to ensure she would not be left alone." I say evenly, sitting down. "For a pilot is never alone on the battlefield, so long as their Operator is there to back them up. Of course, I am no longer serving as an AC Operator, such duties would be conflicting with schooling."

"Cayden-san, you piloted an AC?!"

"Which one were you, which one were you?!" Ah, your first mistake was assuming she piloted a NEXT, but I suppose that's a reasonable assumption.

"What made you want to come here then?!"

"Quiet down, there will be time for this later!"

I give a small smile, as my new teacher reminds me of my drill instructor.

"Now that he has been introduced, let's begin class introductions. There is a lot to cover today, as we still also must go over the syllabus for this class. I am sure you are all well-informed of the curriculum, but we will be covering things that were not specified. We'll start at Seat One—" she points at the chair at the front of the room, on my left side. "—and go down by row, then shift a column over. You will have plenty of time to interact during breaks."

Yes, ma'am.

Introductions go by quickly. A few interesting names come up, but those might just be coincidence.

"Hi, hi! I'm Cayden Mei~" Mei says in a very excited tone, putting her hands together and easily garnering popularity with her charismatic smile when it's her time for introductions. Hmph, so is that the personality you're going with? I suppose you're not really off the mark, you are like that when it's not battle time.

The rest of introductions go quickly.

"There we go. Now, I'll distribute the syllabus and we'll go over it."

It's not very difficult. A heavy focus on IS classes. Combat practical exercise. Piloting. Some general education classes on the side. It seems we'll be dropping a focus on 'social studies' and condensing much of the sciences in order to have enough time.

"Kazuma-kun, you will have something else to do during practical exercises. Don't worry about it for now."

"Yes, ma'am."

"It's _Yumemi-sensei._ "

"Yes, Yumemi-sensei!" I say, forcing some enthusiasm.

"Now then, let's begin the first lesson. We will be covering modern history up until today, so be ready."

Yumemi fires information at us rapid pace, but with enough time that we can quickly write down notes. We're very much ahead of schedule though, but no one seems to be questioning anything.

At least, up until we hit the "Beginning of the IS Era" section.

"Sensei?"

I turn my gaze over to the source of the voice. It's a student with dirty blonde hair, brown eyes, dressed in the standard IS Academy uniform. Hair roughly down to her shoulders.

"Yes…" Tsuketa then looks at the seating chart. "…Reinhardt-san?"

"The textbook neglects to mention what happened after the attempt to capture White Knight by what is cited as 'the world's response forces'. There's plenty of conflicting reports on what exactly it was, but there's plenty of evidence including several eyewitness reports that say there was an additional combatant that didn't belong to any nation."

Another student, black hair, brown eyes, raises her hand. "Sensei, we don't need to talk about this. The rumor known as _Sea Glass_ is just that. Those men probably just made it up when they couldn't take down the Infinite Stratos."

"So you mean to say that there was suddenly a multi-national effort by _four_ countries who contributed only a small expeditionary force, a far cry from the touted 'response force' when they fought an enemy that was unknown to all sides at the time?" The original girl snorts, running a hand through her hair which now that I look closer, has several braids with red bands tying them up. "Sensei, I just wanted to ask if you knew anything about _Sea Glass_ and its claims."

Hm. She's dangerous. And has to have someone giving her insider info. That information… hmmm, I wonder what her sources are. But it looks like that there are those even here that smell something off about the entire response to the Sea Glass scenario.

"Other than what you've stated here along with the fact that it _is_ rather controversial, not much." Our teacher replies. "Cayden-san, you were an Armored Core pilot. Do you know anything?"

"Ahaha, Kazuma, you'd know about that, right?"

I nod as all eyes turn on me. "Cayden was focused more on combat. I handled information. Sea Glass is not a topic many Armored Core pilots like to talk about, which greatly inhibits any further investigation into it. The fact the pilot was written off as a rumor as well didn't help—although really, it's far more stressing that a NEXT was able to deploy without being detected right out."

This entire situation is really stupid, though. Because of the fact Sea Glass was an undocumented pilot, it was hard to attribute. The entire Sea Glass thing was kept under wraps, too, mainly because no one wanted to talk about the _dear God that thing outpaced White Knight and no one knew who it belonged to._ Its timing was horrible, the investigation results came too late. The media, swooning over the IS, tried to write their narrative that Sea Glass was a rumor. Disgusting.

"Ahem, back on point. The reports that come in are conflicted, yes, but mainly deal with the fact the timing was just off. The entire AC investigation was kept under wraps because no one wanted to cause a panic. A panic that you know, this unmarked, unknown NEXT popped up in the middle of the ocean out nowhere, without any planes detected dropping it off, apparently shot past the ships, and fought White Knight. Hell some of the reports I read from expeditionary fleet said they more scared of Sea Glass because that thing was so insanely fast which is why it was the main target. And unlike the IS, who we know is behind all of it, to this day _no one_ knows who is behind Sea Glass. Are there any further questions?"

The girl known as Reinhardt raises her hand.

"Kazuma-san, what are your sources?"

"I have my ears in the community and I was privy to some people. It also comes with studying AC law. Trust me, when it first got out, that entire Sea Glass incident a mess. Accusations thrown around everywhere. Also, I understand the time difference is off. Three, four years ago? I'd have to have been eleven or so? I was in training and my mentor kept me up to date on it. Learn fast or die fast, after all."

"We're straying a bit off topic. Kazuma-san, Reinhardt-san, the two you can continue discussion later, correct? We have yet to finish the lesson."

"Yes, Yumemi-sensei." We chime together.

She's a dangerous girl, definitely. I'm sure Mei is thinking the same thing.

Ha… dammit. It's still my fault, though. If I had won, I doubt there'd have been any doubt of Sea Glass' existence. But the investigation got bogged down, the fact it was kept under wraps… it's like someone was pulling the strings from behind to _make sure_ the IS began its rise no matter how fast _Hidden Hand_ worked.

Class goes on fairly well, although no other incidents pop up like that. Our first break comes up, with plenty of girls swarming Mei and quickly asking about why she calls me "Kazuma" (because you know, apparently teenage girls here never had a lot of interaction with boys in their life and Mei of course, has to explain the lack of honorific). There, I'm pretty sure my story as her Operator is revealed, which seems to put off a few girls.

"So treat him well, okay? He's my lifeblood. The only reason I'm alive is Wei—er, um, Kazuma."

Damn you, Mei, that slip up was intentional and you know it.

"Kazuma-san."

I nearly flinch as Reinhardt's voice knocks my attention away from Mei.

"Reinhardt-san. I see you're very well informed about the Sea Glass incident."

"My father served on one of the ships that engaged White Knight. He watched whatever that _thing_ was fight it. He told me that whatever it was, no matter how bulky and huge it was, it had a beauty like no other."

"He did, huh… what ship was he on?"

"I probably shouldn't say for now. Oh, ah, where are my manners? While I gave my introduction, I'll say my name again. Ur—er, Reinhardt Ursula. It's a pleasure to meet you."

I scan her figure and then her desk without turning my head while shaking her given hand with a decently strong handshake, looking for a marker. Nothing.

"Well met, Reinhardt-san. Back on topic, could I know the nation he served?"

"Ah, well, the Royal Canadian Navy."

"I see. Sorry, I just like to know things like that. I was just wondering if I had read his report when I was still being mentored."

"Is there a chance I could talk with your mentor?"

"He passed away a while back. Sorry."

"N-no, it's fine. I'm sorry about that. Losing your mentor must've been rough. I've heard that being involved with the AC at all is dangerous business. My brother once tried to be an AC pilot, but he just wasn't good enough. Anyways, I thought I would invite you to lunch during the break later. There's a lot to discuss and I doubt a break period is enough to talk."

I would like to note that this invitation immediately caused quite a lot of distress in some of the other girls, such as: "EEEGH?!", "HAWAWAWA!", "R-REINHARDT-SAN'S SO SNEAKY!", and of course, the (goddammit Mei) classic…

"YOU CHEATING BASTARD!"

"Put a sock in it Cayden, and watch your mouth!" I yell back to Mei, who explodes in a fit of laughter.

"Couldn't help it, Ka~zu~ma ~ Besides, someone has to keep you in check."

"You don't get to make that statement when it was usually _you_ in hot water for that sort of thing."

With a deep sigh, I turn back to Reinhardt. "That sounds fine to me. I suppose that it would be good to have an outsider's perspective on the whole situation. You are quite well educated on the matter, obviously."

She nods. "Thank you. If you'll excuse me."

With that, she leaves. Haaa… a dangerous girl. I've got to inform MT about her, need to throw her off my trail. If it ever got out I was Sea Glass, it'd be a horrible mess.

I find myself glancing at my watch constantly during the next lesson, my attention drifting. Being made to sit in a desk and pay attention to a lecture isn't my style. It's just not working out. But I have to persist, even if I'd rather be practicing with the latest parts and being sent on a mission and all of that…wow.

Ha… I've been writing down a parts list again. There really were a lot of rumored parts I was looking forward to using on Orbital Static in the next few weeks and of course, I was writing the current equipment set-up so I could think about the weight distribution. Ohoho, I was hoping the rumors of the Interior Union's HLC07-SIRIUS, because _God_ I love those cannons on Orbital Static—oh, and there's the bell. I should have been taking notes.

"Kazuma, I'll be heading to the bathroom." Mei says, getting up from her seat.

"Understood." I say, slightly enjoying that we can still have some old habits without looking too odd. And with that, she leaves the roo—

"Ooh, an Interior Union rifle. Langley vs Germany. GA's bazooka, Kusoma vs United States."

"Two very famous cases involving those companies and parts. Both of those cases involve an Armored Core pilot who was unregistered and using a stolen one for their own ends. Rarely does something like that happen, or at least in developed countries. You' know your history." I say to the head of black hair with some pink highlights in it now looking over my paper.

"I keep my ears open. I see you've heard the rumors too, about Interior Union's Sirius cannons."

I look to my right look at the girl talking to me. She's leaning comfortably in her chair, posture clearly slouching. Her school jacket is opened up and the shirt underneath is only half-buttoned, exposing the fact that one, she's wearing only a tank-top without a bra underneath and two, that she's probably a B-C cup. She looks at me with a rather smug look in her blood red eyes.

"So, you think it's real?"

"Well first, I didn't think anyone with that much interest in IS parts'd be here."

"Mechanics and tech ran in the family before the IS was a thing. It's only 'cause it's the latest system I'm even here, otherwise I'd probably just be taking some classes at the community college." She says with an airy tone. "But what's your thoughts on the cannons?"

"I'm thinking they're just dumping what they have now. Might as well see if anyone _buys_ them, they'll be able to keep a contract that way. But then again they'd be better off selling the design off and just trying to improve on it with another company for IS parts."

"The power supply'd be rough though, wouldn't it?"

"Downsize it, maybe. The AC has far stronger shields compared to an IS. Decrease its consumption and you'd still have a decent weapon for an IS."

"Heeeh, depends on how it's built though. Downsizing it might be hard. I'm guessing Cayden-san ran a pretty hefty AC?"

"Can't tell you that."

"Hehehe, I guess not."

"How rude of me." I turn around and put a hand forward. "You are…"

"Bl—oh right, Japanese, have to put last name first. Lisarene Blanc. Well met, Kazuma Weiss. A bit of an odd name combination, I have to say."

"Mom wanted to give me the name Weiss, but took my father's name."

"German descent?"

"Yeah, though I've got pretty much all of my father's genes in me."

"So what other parts have you heard about?"

"I hear BFF's releasing the 071ANNR in a month as well. It's a shame too, most of these companies are moving into IS tech, but I have a feeling that many of them are going to go out of business considering that IS units just aren't as versatile as an AC in armaments. I think their best move would be to partner with Dunoa Incorporated. The advanced tech could bridge the gap while the main company plays catchup to reach third generation units. Unfortunately, Interior Union is going to have it rough, as a Stratos can't match the energy output of an AC."

"It's a smaller system, after all."

"I guess, but that's still something against it. The AC still has its uses. I doubt even an IS could assault an Arms Fort. Even an AC will have trouble against all those weapons which a Quickboost is really your only hope. When an IS can reach nine-hundred kilometers per hour, maybe we'll see something like that."

"Heh, that is true. I doubt even White Knight could beat an Arms Fort. You two ever go up against one?"

"I can't tell you that."

"Aww, you're no fun."

"Hmph. Pester me all you want, I'm not giving in." I say, crossing my arms as Mei comes back in.

"Reporting back in, Kazuma."

"Welcome back, Cayden."

"Heeeeh, you two really are partners, eh?" Lisarene says as she prepares her materials for the next class. "Hey, if you two ever want to talk about parts or anything, just gimme a tap."

I only give a small snort, readying for the next class. So many difficult women here, it looks like I'll be right at home even without being on the base, it seems.

The next class begins with a blitz through the legal section. This one is much more bring because I'm familiar with more of this, having gone through a crash course and also the fact most of this really lines up with the Armored Core regulations. The _stupidest_ thing though, is the _Alaska Treaty_ , which prevents any IS units being used in war.

Yes, I'm not even kidding. The machine that is putting the AC out of business, the machine that was originally supposed to be a space-faring suit apparently, the machine that is now being loaded up with bunches and bunches of weapons, will never be used for war. I'm not even being sarcastic. The potential fallout for when someone finally breaks it is just ridiculous.

"Kazuma-san, do you have something to add or ask?"

Ah, it must be showing.

"I do not quite understand completely why the Alaska Treaty came to be the way that it is. Is it to prevent the usage of the Infinite Stratos in warfare, correct? Why then, did we continue development with weaponry in mind when its original purpose was space exploration?"

"Ah, I see. Most of the lawmakers attributed it to the unmarked unit, White Knight. Knowing the unit's potential, they wanted to try to enforce laws to prevent using it in armed military combat unlike the AC."

"Hmm. But due to the limited number cores, it would be difficult to reach the levels of production of NEXTs, even Normals."

"The numbers of cores is prompt to change, though. While no one else can make a core other than the creator of the IS, that might change in the future. That legislation then, will be the safeguard."

"Hm, I understand now. Thank you, Yumemi-sensei. I suppose that after Sea Glass a lot of regulations came into place, after all…"

"If you wish to talk further about it, there is another teacher who wrote her dissertation on the legislation. I'm sure she'd be willing to entertain a discussion, but for now we should finish class."

…so this is school, huh?

Another break swings around. I stand up, go in front of Cayden's desk, and stand up straight. "Cayden, I'm heading over to introduce myself to the other male student. I believe it would be good to open up communications."

"Alright, Kazuma. Take care."

I nod, turn on my heels, and walk out the door.

* * *

 _ **Armored Hearts**_

* * *

"Hey, hey, Cayden-san!"

Mei stretched, turning around to face the stranger calling for her. It was some redhaired girl who looked a little bit annoyed.

"Eh, ahhhh, oh, right. Notten-san, right? What did you want?"

"How'd you get Kazuma to be so subservient to you like that?"

"Hm?" she tilted her head. "He's not subservient to me? Or did you want to learn how to make say, your brother or boyfriend completely devoted to you?"

Mei gave a killer smile as she stood up, turning around to face the girl whose posture immediately began to shrink.

"Let me get one thing straight. Kazuma and I are equals. No, not even that. Without him, I am nothing."

"But he's just an Operator, he doesn't—"

"Notten-san, tell me something."

"E-eh?"

"What do you think a pilot has to keep track of on the battlefield?" she asked, trying not to let too smug of a look pass on her face.

"Um… ammo count, shields, the enemies and where they are, what time it is…"

"—new enemies and when they arrive. Mission parameters changing. Sudden changes in environment if you were fighting in an urban location or somewhere an earthquake might happen. Environmental interference. Allies incoming. Radio transmissions both from your allies and those intercepted from the enemy. Vital system information. I'll stop there."

Every word, with how sharply Mei had fired them, had made the girl feel as if she were being pounded into the ground with a hammer, every syllable smacking her down one more time.

"A pilot's duty is to eliminate the opponent completely and utterly. I cannot keep track of all of that all at once. Because my Operator is there, telling me what I need to know, being the intermediate, I can focus entirely on the high speed combat in front of me.

"He's like that because we respect each other. I need him there with me. He's free to go to any pilot he's hired for, but he always picks me because of that. I don't trash talk him, I don't try to make him bend to my will, when we're off the field. Because that's not what partners do. I got his back and he's got mine."

"U-um…"

"So, if I get word I hear you trying to talk down Kazuma just because he's a _guy_ , Notten-san, I'll be glad to champion for him, if of course, he doesn't beat you down himself."

Mei smiled as she sat down again, proud of having recalled the words Weiss had shouted at another person in their earlier years about why he treated his Operator so lavishly.

" _Without my Operator, I am nothing! I'm only good for pulling the trigger and being locked into that iron coffin, but do you know someone stronger than that? It's the person behind them, able to withstand watching this person they've seen go into combat over and over again, keeping relaxed as they potentially watch the last sortie, still assisting them to the bitter end!"_

* * *

 _ **Armored Hearts**_

* * *

"Pardon the intrusion." I say as I open the door to the classroom marked 1-A. It slides open rather easily. Now, whe—

"A-A-ANOTHER G-GUY?!"

"SO IT WAS TRUE!"

"AAAAH I'M NOT READY, DON'T LET HIM SEE ME!"

"H-HE'S SO SUAVE LOOKING!"

Hmph. I'm not like that at all. Besides, Mei told me that I look too rigid with how I keep myself composed all the time.

"Excuse me, but is Orimura Ichika here?"

"R-right here!"

I see him clearly under duress, the source of said duress appearing to be a blonde, noble-esque girl standing above him. I simply decide to ignore her and march over to his desk, facing him and standing up straight.

"Excuse my intrusion. Good morning, Orimura Ichika, correct?" He nods. I extend a hand. "My name is Kazuma Weiss. I'm the other boy attending IS Academy, but I'm training to become an Operator rather than a pilot like you. Seeing you are the other male student, I thought I'd come and introduce myself."

Be professional, after all. Normally I'd be a little more sore about this sort of thing, but… well, I'm supposed to be selling the image of being rehabilitated.

He takes my hand and we shake. His handshake is a little light for my tastes. "Um… nice to meet you too, Kazuma-san."

"W-why you—!"

I turn to the blonde, who has quite a sour expression on her face. "Oh, I'm sorry for getting in your way. But perhaps, instead of just yelling 'why you', you could have just said 'excuse me'. Oh, Orimura-san, if you would ever like to talk, I am over in Class 1-D. Don't be a stranger."

With that, I walk over to the door.

"Y-you!" the blonde shouts again.

"Me?"

"Yes, you! Just who do you think you are, coming in and barging in like that?! You men need to wait your turn, just because you're some rare type of creature here and you're not even a pil—"

I've already tuned her out.

One of these 'IS Woman Superiority' types. I take it?

I close my eyes for a half second longer than blinking before falling back on those old times. While I can mostly hide my sort of 'killing intent', there are times where I can use it for intimidation. Well, killing intent is a bad way of putting it. Let's just say that I know how to intimidate.

I can feel the changes right away. My posture is a little different. My eyes narrow a little more. I seem a bit taller.

A few girls give breathless gasps and the blonde girl freezes in her tracks.

"I believe I am Kazuma Weiss, ex-AC Operator. Is there a problem? Have I possibly wronged you in the past, Miss _Girl-I-Just-Met_?"

"N-no."

I relax my guard and switch back to my normal ways. "I see. Well, it's quite rude to just shout at people like that. I'm sorry if I barged in, perhaps I should have been a little more cautious but it seems that your query with Orimura-san was able to wait. Thank you, and goodbye."

When I reach the classroom, Mei has a too-wide-for-my-own-good smile on her face. As I walk past her—

"You know, Kazuma, making people think you're a devil isn't a good thing."

"Sorry, but sometimes I like to be scary towards certain people."

"It's fine, just don't do that too often, m'kay?"

"Also, sorry. I forgot to report back as soon as I entered."

"It's fine, you returned back. The important thing is you came back home, right?"

"Of course."

I take my seat and prepare for the rest of the day. More lessons, again with the legal terms. After all, there's quite a lot to cover in depths regarding the Infinite Stratos. And while you can trust the students to read the books, it is best to have gone over it in the classroom so there is no excuse.

And then, it was lunch time.

 _Chrchk!_

I look left. The girl named Reinhardt stands up. At the same time, Mei does the same.

…I've been dragged into watching enough movies by various people on base to know where this is going.

"Kaaaazuma, let's eat."

"Sorry Cayden, I made an appointment earlier."

"Muuuuu…"

"Though, this is important to you, too. If you'd like to come along, I'm sure you'll learn something."

"That's more of something you look into, right? Just tell me who I go after."

"Hmph. So simple, sometimes."

Mei knew beforehand I was coming (or so MT told me), so we were really able to settle into our predecided roles Acting, blending it, it's all second nature after having been an operative for so long.

With that, Reinhardt and I go out to lunch together, chatting the whole way about some details. I don't offer anything too concrete, but try to figure out how much she knows. Most of her information has come from her father and internet boards.

"What about you? Do you have any idea who Sea Glass could be?"

"That's dangerous talk, to be so straightforward. Calling out someone would… not pretty. I'd need a lot of concrete evidence. Which is the even scarier part of Sea Glass. An unknown, unmarked, unregulated _NEXT_ , not just a _Normal_ , is out there with enough resources and backing to sortie, and no one has any clue who they are."

"Ah…"

"I must compliment your information gathering, though. Not a lot of those outside the community could get this far. Although I must say… that one potential theory about some organization backing up Sea Glass is interesting, but um, is still rather farfetched. Well, proving-wise, anyways. There's no doubt in my head there are plenty of under the table deals around the world, but proving some organization was directly responsible, as in, they house this AC in general, is difficult to prove."

"Finding anything to back it up is tricky. They'd of course, be very careful to cover up their tracks."

"Indeed."

Like I said, a _very_ dangerous girl.

Before we can continue, our attention is diverted by the loud yelling from across the room. It seems there's some fuss regarding Orimura and two girls, as he's quickly talking to the two of them.

"Oh, I suppose you won't be in the running for any piloting matches."

"Yes… although, I plan to do my part by acting as the standing Operator for our representative. What's with the commotion, anyways?"

"Um… Kazuma-san, behind you."

I look behind me and find a girl from the booth behind us. Brunette, long hair put into a side-tail, mustard yellow eyes.

"…Hello. Did you need something?"

"If you didn't have your ears in the rumor mill, as I thought you might, Operator-san, Orimura Ichika is apparently going to duel Britain's representative, Cecilia Alcott… erm, um, Alcott Cecilia… How do you do this for English names…"

"I get the gist of the situation. Thank you… Miss…"

"Uhhhh, Meghan. Meghan Stoneson. Or is it Stoneson Meghan? Sorry, I'm not too sure about that yet, er, well at least, since you seem like you come from the States or something like that so calling me Meghan is just fine. I'm in your class, actually."

"It's not a problem. Thank you then, and well met. I suppose that I'll have to keep up with the school's gossip, too… as unsavory as that seems. And if you're keeping up, are you too, going to be an Operator?"

"Mmm, I was planning on it, but I'm not quite sure if I want to take that path or be a pilot."

"That should be something you try to decide before you have specialized classes… ah! Is Alcott blonde, looks almost like a noble girl..."

"Yes, that would be her…"

"…Hmm." I put a hand on my chin and think. Well then.

"Is something wrong, Kazuma-san?" Reinhardt asks. "You look deep in thought."

"It seems I should offer my services to Orimura. I may have accidentally contributed to this situation and of course, I should see if I can at least try to help him."

* * *

"You look like someone just pissed in your soup." Mei says as I take my seat, the annoyance probably evident on my face.

"My services were denied." I mutter, slightly twitching in anger.

Orimura denied my services mainly on the grounds that this is something between him and Alcott. I argued that having an Operator of my skill would at least put him on somewhat even ground, as I could guide him to victory.

Honestly, how does he expect to win? I understand he is the younger brother of Orimura Chifuyu, but that alone will not save him. He doesn't seem to have any background in combat other than having taken kendo as a kid (MT gave me a dossier on him), so he wouldn't know how fight in an IS.

"What, did he slight your pride?"

"Hmph. No, it's partially that… but I'm more annoyed at the fact the kid doesn't seem to know what he's getting into. It's like he expects to have some way to win like he's a protagonist of some book. He seems unfamiliar with how to fight, doesn't understand the importance—hell, doesn't even _know_ what an Operator is—and if you ask me, is just going to get shot down… if it wasn't for the fact that Alcott seems to be incredibly haughty and by the rumors I've dug up as per suggestion by Meghan, Alcott thinks he won't stand a chance. She'll use this as a chance to show off and possibly loosen her guard. Both of them… ugh."

"Heh. Hmmm, but I guess that means we need to decide our Representative for the class then, right?"

I immediately sit up. "Are you thinking of taking the position?"

"Well…"

"If you are, I'll support you."

She reaches over and pats my head, earning an eyeroll from me. That's a yes, then.

"Alright, as I'm all sure you've heard about class 1-A's representative choice, we'll be holding the same. You'll be in charge of both normal class representative duties alongside being the main fighter for this class in schoolwide battles. The rules are simple. You can nominate yourself or anyone else in the class, although obviously, we won't be nominating Kazuma-kun."

I raise my hand.

"Kazuma-kun."

"I would like to nominate myself as the Operator for our class representative."

"I see. Are there any challengers?"

It's quiet. Heh.

"I would also like to nominate Cayden Mei as our representative." I add on. Our teacher nods.

"Sensei." I look for the voice, finding it to be Reinhardt. "I would like to nominate myself."

I think about her tone and analyze it. It's not smug. It's confident, though. She knows she's up against a professional opponent, but yet I can feel some excitement in her. Yes… she seems like someone respectable. If anything, it seems she wants to see what Mei's capable of.

"Seeeensei!" Meghan? "I'd like to nominate Nomida Taigei!"

"C-can I decline, sensei?!" A clearly distressed voice yells out. I turn around just enough to face said voice. I find, at roughly the eight o'clock position and second to last row of the classroom, a girl with black hair and red-orange-ish eyes. Her hands are balled up, right in front of her chest, and she appears to be shaking.

"You may not, Nomida-san."

"Y… yes, sensei."

Rather dejected, the girl sits down. She's immediately comforted by her nominator. Hmph. I understand that rule is supposed to help nominate leaders, as most _good_ leaders are the ones who are never going to want to lead, but it's not exactly kept too much in check this time if you want to put your friend up there. A bit frustrating, but oh well.

"Are there any other takers?"

The room goes quiet very quickly.

"Then, four days from now, we will have a three-way match to determine the class representative. I'm sure all of you can push papers around easily, but seeing as you'll represent this class in battle, this is the easiest way to do it." Our teacher says with a sigh. "Alright, let's continue with lessons."

Classes go by quickly after that. It seems most people don't have questions, so they simply keep their heads down and take notes.

As soon as class ends, I tap Mei on the shoulder. "Do you intend to win?"

"Hehe, but of course. That's why I volunteered, isn't it?" she says with a smile. "Gotta make sure my training wasn't for nothing, right?"

I trace our teacher's movement out of the classroom, waiting until she's out before standing up. "Of course. If you'll excuse me, I'll go secure the necessary resources to ensure your victory. It seems that while I am no longer your Operator for the Armored Core, I can't help but take up the same position for you and the IS."

"Mmm. Where are you going now?"

"Didn't I just say? If you'll excuse me."

I march straight down to the faculty office, finding Yumemi-sensei at her desk. I believe she was watching for when I entered, as she looks up and signals me over.

"What is it, Kazuma-kun?"

"I wanted to ask when I could secure a training IS for Cayden to use. While she has had training and I have my Operator training, we haven't had a joint training section yet."

"So I thought. It's the first day, Kazuma-kun. There's a lot of other early go-getters like you, so I'll inform you tomorrow if anything is open."

"Yes, ma—er, Yumemi-sensei."

She gives a small snort of amusement before I leave the room, noting that I still have my room assignment to get to. Room 305.

I leave the main school building and go to the dormitories, taking the elevator to the third floor. Room 305… Ah, here we go.

I reach into my suitcase of sorts and pull out the key I was given earlier, taking it from one of the inner pouches. I put it into the lock, turn the key, and hear the _click_ of the unlocking. I take the key out, put it back into the suitcase, pick up said case, and then turn the knob, pushing in. Surely, the school couldn't have been so foolish as to—

"A… ah…"

I twitch, trying to figure out if this was MT's doing or if this was just because there weren't any additional rooms, which I highly doubt is the case.

"Kaaaaazumaaaa~"

Mei rushes towards me, arms outstretched. Her bathrobe isn't even completely tied up, exposing her entire frontside. And… wait for it…

My arm extends out, catching her right in the head, where I grab her face and keep her at a distance. I then take a step forward and give her a slight push.

"W-what the hell was that fooooor?!"

"Your overenthusastic schoolgirl persona, tone it down a bit. Seriously, making a heart with your hands in your introduction?" I mutter, closing the door and locking it behind my back. "I wasn't informed I was rooming with you beforehand. Did you have a roommate before this?"

"I was alone, actually. And I'll be as enthusiastic as I want, thank you very much."

"Strange. I'd have expected everything to be full and maybe have a room to myself. Public morality, my ass." I mutter, sitting down on the clearly unoccupied bed in the room. "…I didn't do anything too bad, did I?"

"Nope. I think you seemed like a pretty normal student."

"By the way, you know I have a fear of insects, so did you…"

"I already set up a few traps." Mei says, knowing what I was talking about. So she already swept for any bugs in the room. "After all, you are my support."

She leaned up next to me and then whispered. "It's okay, right?"

"If it's for you, then it's fine with me." I say, Mei leaning away now. "I talked with Yumemi-sensei. She'll get back to us tomorrow since there's a lot of upperclassmen ahead of us. How was your training?"

"It was good. Learned quite a bit. Converting from the AC to the Stratos is rough. There's a slight delay because of the computational power difference and it really bugs me. Those few seconds could save your life. Not to mention the fact weapons are far, far easier to swap and you can you know, actually _be_ disarmed which is a pile of crap, it was far harder to actually disarm an AC. Drone weaponry, swords that while they have a feature to recover them, should never leave you… there's a lot to consider."

"Well, I'll be trusting you to win regardless."

"Of course."

"…although," I say, lowering my voice. "…if you're the representative and we are called away, how do you plan on working with that?"

"…Bleh. I knew I was supposed to fade in and wanted to see if I had done any better, but that slipped my mind. We weren't supposed to be called though."

"I know, but it's just a thought. I should have considered that before I leapt to the Operator position."

"We're not supposed to be called, Weiss, so it's fine. Besides, we'll be covered for. But, you usually take the lead. I'll follow you and trust your decisions with the next few days."

"Got it." I lie down on the bed, finding it's much, much softer than the cot we used to have. "…so this is what it's like to be a student."

"It's… kind of weird, huh?"

"Yeah. By the way…"

"Hm?"

"Go get changed. She'd yell at you for walking around like that, you know?"

"Awww, are you embarrassed?"

"I thought I was supposed to be an upstanding student, so I cannot stand for this display." I fire back. "Also, the door's unlocked, so I wouldn't be surprised if someone walked in on you pinning me down as I know you're wont to do, you damned nymphomaniac."

"T-that hurts, you know!" she yells, immediately run over to the door and making sure it's locked. "You liar!"

"Too easy." I chuckle, looking over the room. We do have our own laptops provided by the school, but I'd rather use the ones MT provided. Better specs, probably. That, and a connection to _them_ if necessary. However, MT specified that my work phone should be the one used first. "You enjoy being like that, don't you?"

"Mmm. It's like being on base, but with less restrictions."

"You mean with less of our officers yelling at you for trying to get in my bed." I snort, looking around for my things. A backpack lies in the corner of the room, holding most of my belongings that I wanted to bring. Next to it is a laptop pack, which holds the work laptop. And next to that is a solid briefcase that holds several weapon pieces in the unlikely event we'll have to get moving. Not too much in the way of normal things.

However, at the behest of MT, I packed several casual pieces of clothing. There's also some magazines to further sell my 'casual student' image, and some camping supplies. I packed things to be able to not only blend in, but also in the event of sudden sortie, I won't be caught completely pants down.

"Not even one porn magazine? Come on."

"Hmph. I think it might be nice to fill the position of 'that not perverted guy' here. Besides, I know you'd hold it over my head."

"Awwwww."

"I know you far too well, Mei."

She hugs me from behind. "And I know you far too well, Weiss. It's… nice, isn't it?"

"…Maybe. But—"

"I know how you feel. But… maybe you can find something that'll make it worth it."

"…I hope." I mutter, Mei holding me close enough to the point I can her breasts pressing up against my back. "You still haven't put any clothes on."

"It's fine."

"Go put some damn clothes on."

"After a little bit, okay?"

"I guess it might be nice… knowing how you are when we're on the field." I mumble. "And I guess you'll really learn what it means to fight. The way I'll train you… it will not be to win battles in an arena, like these girls are thinking. I will train you… on how to survive that battlefield. By the way, do you think it's too early to call in?"

"I'm sure she wouldn't mind. I'll go get changed."

I nod, taking out my work phone and dialing one of the few numbers on it, the one for _MT_.

" _Hello, you've reached Matilda. Sorry, I'm not available right now, but please leave a message after the tone."_ I press 4-0-3-4 at the tone. Another ring tone.

" _Didn't expect you to call so early, 4034."_

"I need two dossiers." I say, knowing the authentication worked.

" _Hm?"_

"Two students stood out to me as potentially troublesome. One is the daughter of a man who served on one of the ships that was there with White Knight. The second recognized two very important cases in AC laws, one that was very obscure. I just want to know if she'll be too troublesome."

" _I see. Their names?"_

"Ursula Reinhardt for the first, father served in Canada to help you narrow your search down. Blanc Lisarene for the second, no idea where she's from though."

" _Lisarene… that name rings a bell. I'll see what I can do. How was class?"_

"It was all right. I'll have to get used to being in a classroom like this. It's a bit off, but I'll power through it."

" _Gooooooo—"_ A yawn?

"—Hey, get some sleep."

" _I will, just had some late night work. I'll get working on your documents later. For now, just keep at it."_

"Understood. Get to sleep, MT."

" _I would, but you just slapped some work on me."_ She says with a teasing tone. _"Keep an eye out on Mei, got it?"_

"Will do. Also, status update. Mei will be competing for the position of class representative. I've volunteered to be the class Operator, but nothing concrete yet. Advise on current situation."

"… _It's up to you. We aren't intending to deploy you. Do as you think is fit."_

"Understood. Good night, MT."

" _MT out."_

"Four oh three four, out."

I close the phone and put it away before looking for where I put my charger in the bags. I pull it out, plug it into the wall, and then plug my phone in before standing up and looking out the window. Not a bad view. I guess I should get ready to shower, though. I've got a lot ahead of me.

Looks like life certainly will be getting interesting.

* * *

 **WEW, done.**

 **I thought it would be more fun to put everyone into a new classroom rather than with Ichika's class. As you can tell, there's several new characters and names to learn. I dunno, putting the OC in a different classroom seemed like it would be better. And using Ichika's class seems like an old hat. Of course, they'll** _ **interact**_ **, but I was hoping to present something different. Such as the Alcott and Weiss incident there. Weiss taps into his intimidation factor where he's fishing into his past as a soldier and killer to intimidate her, who's only recently began fighting, and defuses the situation between them. Alcott doesn't do much else with him, but it's evident that the two aren't going to really be crossing paths too often.**

 **I tried to create something new for all the characters, not really basing them off anyone from the original characters of IS Academy, but let me know if anyone seems too similar. While I will agree that Yumemi and Chifuyu have a lot in common, I tried to show that they had some differences, even if they were subtle. Yumemi is seemingly more familiar with military types, as she doesn't act surprised to being called ma'am and also directs classroom discussion around the room. Reinhardt has a bit of similarity to Bodewig in their military background, but Reinhardt was raised with a military family and isn't the best of the best compared to her. I could make a few other comparisons but those would spoil my plans. Let me know if you have anything to say on that.**

 **I don't have too much else to explain as I've just only now introduced them. But from me, I feel that there was a rather large focus on Reinhardt this chapter, although I would like to justify that as I've given her a very assertive and slightly aggressive personality** _ **and**_ **she also has the strongest link to Weiss as her father saw Sea Glass.**

 **I'll probably get to more of the other characters later, but some of them were more on the fringe. I purposely kept Blanc distant and unable to be read, and Meghan hasn't been introduced very well. It's all a matter of who Weiss thinks he should be talking with. Reinhardt's an immediate focus, but I'd like to show off a few other characters later.**

 **Let me know what you thought of who I've shown so far. I really do enjoy writing this project and I hope you enjoy reading it. Do leave a review if you have anything to tell me about this chapter!**

 **Seeya next time!**


	3. Rock, Paper, Scissors

**Welp, it took a while for this to get out. It's not like I was hoping to get these out once a month or anything** _ **whoops dammit college you are literally murdering all of my free time ugh.**_

 **BrokenLifeCycle:** I'm gonna assume that's an Overwatch reference, as I don't play it but when I was searching for Reinhardt's name in order to check its country of origin, OW came up XD Thanks for reading!

 **Kerlongsj Evert Orlejov:** Thanks for reading! Also I was hoping to make Yumemi and Chifuyu a little different, but I still wanted to aim for the "hardass in general" character, mainly because I think the dynamic with Weiss and Yumemi will be fun to play around with. I don't know what to do with Notten, maybe she'll make another appearance. Also yes, I was hoping to end up with a bunch of OCs because to be honest I felt it might be a fun new twist on things rather than playing with the same 5-7 characters that most people are used to. And yes, the incidents do have bigger meanings behind them, though I've yet to show that off. I do apologize for not reviewing any of your stuff, I'd love to read it but seeing as I'm barely even able to get updates like, once every 2-3 months (I was hoping once a month but then OH GOD WEED OUT CLASSES), I just haven't had as much time with FFNet.

 **Gnaoh El Nart** : Thanks for dropping by! I _do_ want to shift back to the AC at some point, but it'll have to wait. And amusingly it wouldn't be the more dakka route, as Weiss deals with sniping and blades XD

 **Thunder Dragon, Kaiser Dragon, while I'm flattered by the consideration of asking to write something, I just can't really do it. I just write what I want and mess around with it XD Also, if you're going to do requests like that,** _ **please**_ **at least make an account and send it via PM.**

 **Either way, I believe that's everything I wanted to say. Here we go, and I apologize for the long ass delay!**

* * *

 **Chapter 3:** Rock, Paper, Scissors

* * *

I tap my foot impatiently—well, more annoyed than impatient—as I look at the list of weapons that the Revive unit that Mei will be using can have. What a poor selection. While two rifles is doable, if Mei will be able to aim those two as it requires manual aiming compared to the AC where the computer handles most of that (although manual overrides are possible), is an entirely different question.

"Mei, remind me what weapons you were trained in for the IS?"

"Um… I used most infantry-grade weapons along with knives and dabbled in swords. Not very good at the last one."

"I see. Hmmm… two sub machine guns. Less range than rifles, but you can probably hold them better." I mutter. "Sound good?"

"We can try later today, seeing as you're still trying to get over the IS-AC hurdle." Mei says with a grin. "You did get permission for the Revive, right?"

"I did." I say, tapping my briefcase where the papers to take the Revive out are. "I don't think we should try a sniper build."

"Hehehe. You couldn't turn me into a crack shot in two days, could you?"

"If I could, I'd be the best hunting teaching in the world." I say with a snort. "We'll head out for a spin. I don't know exactly what we'll use… I know we do have those SMGs available to us, but there's so many types."

As in, manufacturers. I've narrowed it down to a few models. There's the Calico M960 from Calico Light Weapon Systems, the classic Heckler and Koch UMP, and then we also have one from the AC manufacturers who are trying to move into IS tech.

Rayleonard was quick to hop on the IS train and has produced the IS03-MOTORCOBRA, which was great for shredding enemies, although its immense recoil will require some tuning from Mei. I'm tempted to pick it and see if we like it and continue using it to pick up a potential sponsor.

The only problem with that one is dual wielding those would be rough. Hmmm… does the Revive have anything to reduce recoil…? Maybe there's an arm-locking feature somewhere. Having something like that would be incredibly useful.

That would put us at close to mid-range… But I don't want to leave Mei without other options.

I flip a few pages and check on the other equipment, having taken a paper list.

…Ohoho.

We could go in with knives on the Revive, but this… I didn't know Omer had produced an IS version of those hangar blades. The IS-EB-O600… perfect. We'll probably be only able to use one of these, but that's fine. I've been forced to fall back on hangar blades before and this one has pulled my ass out, so I'll trust it.

"You look happy."

"We'll get to training right away." I say, circling the particular part with a red pen before depositing the list into my briefcase.

Everyone is quite excited to see this battle. Or at least, everyone who isn't fawning over the Orimura-Alcott battle. Other than those immediately involved, it seems we won't have to worry about someone trying to steal information.

Except of course, for Meghan, who I note is staring at my briefcase. Hm. Well, it's not like I have anything really _in_ there that's important. She might try to estimate what our plans are, but then again anyone could just look in our practice sessions and see what we're using.

I should look into some of the others. It wouldn't hurt to ask around. Maybe figure out who their Operators are.

During the rest of the day, I observe who talks with who. I see Meghan talking with Reinhardt, surprisingly, so I can assume a pair there. Nomida seems to be talking a lot with Lisarene, with the latter of the two moving up to talk with the former so I'm not within discussion range. I honestly expected Meghan to go after Nomida, but I guess Lisarene might have skills she offered that I'm not aware of.

Also, partway through the day, I moved the weapons list into Cayden's case. Just to throw people off.

"And with that, class is dismissed."

Cayden and I immediately stand up, ready to go.

"Cayden, it was Arena 4, Gate 3. Just reminding you."

"Understood. I'll contact you when I've deployed."

The two of us give off a professional appearance as we both march out about thirty seconds after our teacher has left. Our footsteps are almost entirely in sync, with me right behind Mei. Eventually, when we get to the arena, we part ways, with me heading up to staging area.

There's a catapult out to the dirt arena, with pods along the sides for the IS units. I find a terminal and punch in the information provided to us, as I already remembered what the IDs and everything were. It lights up green and I hear a hiss, with one of the pods opening. A Revive, eh?

I then continue onwards, taking two of each gun and one blade. We'll need to get a baseline for today. As soon as I hit 'CONFIRM', I hear more parts moving somewhere in the background. Next to the IS, on the ground, some red lights flare on before the floor slides away, with seven smaller, rectangular pods shooting up. Each one opens up, revealing the weapons I requested.

"Whew… these trainers certainly have it easy." I mutter, giving a low whistle. I hear some footsteps coming from behind me.

I turn around, finding Mei running her hands on the edge of her bodysuit. Fitted to her, the dark grey suit clings to her body, accentuating her body's natural curve. Of course, it's nothing I haven't seen before (she's a _slob_ when sleeping), so her easily distinguishable B cups don't fluster me in the slightest.

"Get in the unit, we've got work to do."

"Yeesh, you really have no drive, do you?"

"I've seen you in the buff before, it's nothing new." I say back, walking over to the stairs that lead up to control room of sorts, where the Operator communicates to the pilot from. There's a combination pad here as well, to which I punch in the assigned number. The door slides away, allowing me to go in before closing behind me.

The operation room is well lit, although the orange-wash lights could go. There's several terminals, allowing for at max a five-versus-five battle, all of them with leather chairs. I go to the central one and look over the electronics in front of me. A standard QWERTY keyboard and mouse are right ahead of me. Above it is a small screen detailing the IS statistics. To the right is a series of buttons labeled CAMERA followed by a number. I push them, getting a feel for what each camera can give me, both in the hangar and on the field.

To my left is an interface for radioing. Simple enough, a few knobs and dials, plus some buttons for fine tuning. There's a few buttons for quick-swaps, such as public channels and other stations. Hanging on the side from the interface system are a pair of sleek looking headphones.

Above the keyboard and directly ahead of me is a holoscreen of sorts, as there is no physical monitor. Most of the display information is right here, such as current channels I'm broadcasting over, IS monitoring, pilot vitals, and everything I might need to know.

First, sign-on. That's easy, as I simply slide my IS Academy ID card into the slot provided nearby. The screen lights up, giving me an 'OPERATOR AUTHETICATED' message.

After that, I put the headset on and hit the 'AUTO-SCAN' button on the radio interface. It lights up green and notes 'CONNECTION SUCCESSFUL'. My holoscreen changes and on the bottom left corner it now reads:

PRIVATE-1: RAPHAEL REVIVE – PILOT ID: MEI CAYDEN

"Operator to Cayden, do you read me?" I ask, switching the camera views to look into the hangar. This is a nice display, I've got plenty of cameras to choose from plus I can view multiple at once, tessellating them on the screen.

She looks up at me and flashes a thumbs up. " _Cayden to Operator, I read you."_

I look at the keyboard and check the IS status screen, noting there are several arrows corresponding to some empty buttons on the keyboard. I press the one that lines up with 'IS WEAPON STATUS', with the mini-screen and main-screen both updating. No weapons yet.

"Alright. Volume sound good?"

" _Yeeep!"_

"Good. Let's get started. Since we'll be having the blade as your backup weapon, put that one in the backup slot."

I watch as Mei does so, attaching the blade to her right side, around her leg area. The screen updates, with the weapon status screen now having: RESERVE: IS-EB-O600.

"I see it. Alright, you've got a choice between a Calico, UMP, and an IS-converted MOTORCOBRA—Oh, picking up the VANDA. Before we try dual wielding, do you want to fire a few practice shots in order to get an idea of its recoil? It's not like your AC where you don't have to control the recoil yourself."

" _Ah, right. I'll fly out, then."_

I take a look at display again, finding the weapon screen reading "ARM R: IS03-MOTORCOBRA 92/1012". Hmmm… there should be a few commands.

I start typing in L-O, being prompted with several commands. I hit the down arrow a few times, picking the command "LOAD PRAC_TARGETS". I'm then prompted to select locations on the field, using the mouse rather than typing in coordinates.

Hm… Ah, there's a shortcut button labeled "3D FIELD VIEW", which changes the screen in front of me to show an orthogonal view of the arena, displaying Mei as a dot with an arrow pointing out with her vector. Alright, let's load up the targets…

"Warning! You've got several targets showing on the radar!" I yell, trying to simulate the live battlefield as I type "CONFIRM" on the prompt, with several targets showing up on the field view, highlighted in red. "Light 'em up, Cayden!"

I watch as that 92—the magazine size—drops as she shoots at the closet one. A log opens up on the side, a window labeled as the same on the display "ARM R: IS03-MOTORCOBRA", with several words underneath it, a mix of "EFFECTIVE HIT", "INEFFECTIVE HIT", "MISS". Above all of those though, is a field called "HIT RATIO" which has the value of .92.

"First one's down! Watch yourself!"

Mei whips around and shoots off to the right, her vector suddenly gaining size for a split second.

"Hey, do that again!"

I take a look at her IS Status screen and find that the screen displays a small heat spike from the left side, just about where the thruster is. Looks like it's a smaller version of a Quickboost. It won't save you from a locked missile swarm with good enough tracking, but it's enough to throw off a gunman.

"Magazine's three fourths exhausted!" I yell as she takes out the second one. "Watch your ammo, reload inbound!"

As soon as she opens fire on the third one, the last few bullets are exhausted. On the status screen, next to the weapon, a timer starts counting down—what the hell, three seconds?! That thing normally takes twelve! I guess this is the power of the IS…!

The rest of the targets are mopped up easily.

" _Operator, all targets eliminated."_

"…sorry, I'm still reeling over that three second reload time."

" _The MOTORCOBRA had a twelve second reload, right?"_

"Yeah. Does it seem like a good fit to you? I'll see about loading a moving target and you can try aiming it one-handedly.

I type in "load" again, finding a command called "LOAD_BULLSEYE_TARGET". Selecting it, I find a lot of options, which I set before placing it down.

" _Hey, Weiss, I've got a score counter on my display."_

I look at my own display and find the same. Looks like it's attached to the bullseye that's moving back and forth.

"Seems like it's just a counter for your accuracy. Try using the gun to shoot the target, but with only your right arm. Then we'll try your left arm and see which one is better."

" _Roger that~"_

I sit back and let Mei take her shots. Seems she favors the right hand for this gun.

We go through the other guns, repeating the same process. Move around, shoot targets, let her get a feel for the gun, followed by the bullseye on both hands. In the end, the UMP is a good fit for her left hand and the Cobra goes with her right hand. We did a practice test on that just to check, finding that this simulation also allows for simulated targets to fire back at you, along with having a _massive_ database for targets. I can simulate infantry squads, tanks, small scale stuff, it's amazing. To think this is in a school, too. If only AC pilots had this level of training… but then again, most of us usually get our start with Normals. Those aren't exactly difficult to learn, but being _good_ with them against other Normals becomes rough.

"—purge arm weapons!" I yell, noting that as soon as Mei discard her weapons, both guns falling to the ground, the "ARM R: IS03-MOTORCOBRA" and "ARM L: H&K UMP" labels fade away. "—equip blade!"

The IS does have weapon retrieval systems, so it _is_ able to recover those weapons it has attached. By purging them though, we prevent the automatic retrieval from kicking in. If this was a personal IS, then it'd be so much easier to switch weapons on the fly. Of course, I'm used to this as an AC pilot. Rather than switching, you just need to make use of what you have.

As soon as the blade weapon moves onto her arm, I see the new label "ARM R: IS-EB-O600". We'll have to rely on that small boost that the Revives seem to be able to use. I should look into their history a little more, as they seem to have a few similarities to the AC.

We use the same mechanic as before, getting Mei a good feel for the blade.

" _Ha!"_ Mei yells, having accelerated and taken out the last target. _"How'd I do?"_

"Alright, I guess. What's the maximum speed on that thing?"

" _At straight ahead forward acceleration?"_

"Yeah."

" _I think it was what, three hundred miles an hour? But that's going only in a straight line and requires a bit of time. I can't just throw the output to maximum. Not to mention that's with no equipment."_

"I see. Well, no reason to really go at anything less than your maximum. You can pull off that acceleration trick while charging with a blade, right?"

" _Eh? You mean where I flare up the boost a bit?"_

"Yeah. Might be what gives us the edge in combat. It's no Ignition Boost, but suddenly closing the distance is never bad for blades."

" _I suppose. Am I done for today?"_

"Yeah. Come home, pilot."

As Mei flies in, I realize that the platform extends out into the arena in such a way there's almost no way for pilots to shoot directly at the Operator area. That's probably just a safety thing. There's also a switch I here that can close the hangar area, probably just as another safeguard. Having the Operator so close to combat is normally a combat danger.

I wait until Mei's readouts have no weapons equipped and her unit reads "NO PILOT" before I look through the commands and hit "PRINT RESULTS", with a printer in the back corner of the room starting to churn out some pages. I then sign off the machine, pick up the small bundle of papers, and leave the Operator room, heading down the stairs after depositing the papers in my briefcase and taking it with me. I head over to the terminal, Mei right behind me, before entering in that we're done. It seems all the boxes are scanned before closing shut and disappearing, along with the pod containing the Revive from before reappearing and taking the unit back in before closing.

"Fancy system they got here." I mutter. "So much cleaner than an AC hangar."

"Hehe, smells a lot less like oil, too."

"Still though, I'm sure it gives the mechanics studies something to do, with all the maintenance on the weapons." I mutter before checking my watch. "Alright, it's eighteen hundred and forty three hours. I'll wait for you to finish showering and changing out on the other side, then we can grab dinner where we can review your results."

"Yes, sir!"

"I'm not your superior officer, you don't need to call me that. Anyways, hurry up. I'm getting hungry."

* * *

 _ **Armored Hearts**_

* * *

"H-how are we going to…"

"To win?" Blanc asked with a small grin on her face, leaning back on the wall as she watched Mei fly into the hangar. "Well, for one, we're going to surprise them. I suppose that those two are used to their opponents knowing what they'd be bringing."

"R… really?"

"It's a thing with the Armored Core community. Generally, the more known you get, the more predictable you are, as in your equipment. Everyone has a specialty, after all. Some people are better snipers, so you'll consistently see them sniping again and again."

"But wouldn't you just bring something to counter that?"

"It's the crux of being an Armored Core pilot. Even if they bring something to counter you, you just have to be better. You have to find a way to win despite being at a disadvantage." Blanc put her hands into her pockets and let out a small chuckle. "Your strategy isn't going to be too hard. All we have to do is find a way to close the distance. I know quite a lot about IS parts, after all, so I'll tell you how to win."

Elsewhere, another duo was watching.

"…Hm."

"Getting cold feet about challenging them?"

"Of course not." Reinhardt said with a small scoff. "Although seeing quite a fearsome pair certainly would shake anyone up. They're gearing up to win, very, very quickly."

"So you just need to keep out of their distance, right?" Meghan asked, looking up at Reinhardt.

"Fortunately for me, that's a viable option." She fished into her inner pockets and retrieved a silver pocketwatch. "The battle will be at approximately fifteen hundred hours. The sun will not be fully above, but due to the spring time weather, it will be slightly falling in the west. With that, I can turn the battlefield to my advantage."

"Mmm, that's kind of scary for you to think about."

"Environment is something to consider in any engagement. If I can make it harder for her to aim at me, all the better."

"What about Nomida-san?"

"You mean the girl you put up?"

"D-d-don't put it like that…"

"I'll be opportunistic. Obviously, I'm going to try to take out Cayden. But if Nomida makes herself open, I'll take a shot as well. Either way, what a hell of a first battle at this school…"

* * *

 _ **Armored Hearts**_

* * *

"There's a lot of information."

"A lot more than AC readouts." I mutter, munching on my garlic bread as I look over the papers spread out over the table. "But while I was waiting for you, I circled the more important parts. We've got two days, we can practice more tomorrow, but it's going to be trial by fire on game day."

"Right!"

"Alright, so unlike your AC, we can only really fire one effectively unless we're at point blank range. Also, like the AC, the weight is going to affect your acceleration and speed. If anyone's too speedy, I may have you purge one or both weapons and force you into a blader setup." I say, pointing at the relevant fields.

"Mhm."

After giving Mei a rundown of the numbers and highlighting the effectiveness of each weapon, I take up the papers and put them back into my case. "But all in all, not much. Play this like an AC match. I'll give you your information, you eliminate the target as you best see fit, and I'll give you recommendations based on the situation."

"So just like old times, right?"

"You could say that." I say with a smile as Mei gets up, stretching her arms. "Going somewhere?"

"I wanna phone our old friends, you in?"

"Nah, I think I'll take a walk after this. Oh, take my case back for me, I won't need it."

"What about your ID and key?"

"…right." I fish around in the briefcase for the folder labeled _"Doujin Skietches"_ before putting it in Mei's briefcase. She snickers at the folder, but I suppose that when you want to be extra sure, why not? "Have fun, and if Marisa's there, say hi to her for me."

"I'll be sure to tell her you miss tapping that."

"Buzz off." I grumble, stuffing my face with more lettuce and chicken pieces as Mei goes off, laughing. And like that, I'm left alone at the table, eating quietly. Two days until the battle, huh? I also hear that Orimura and Alcott's battle will be taking place at the same time. Good. Less distractions for us on the field.

We should test out the field. There _are_ shields to protect the audience who watches… I wonder, will they react like a surface? Can we use them in the battlefield? All things to consider.

I greatly dislike the open battlefield though. Rarely you'll have such a thing. Especially considering that the IS is much smaller and could be deployed in city streets much more effectively and with less collateral damage than with an AC. In an open field, a skilled pilot would decimate an IS if given the proper load out.

…bleh. Now I'm left with a bad taste in my mouth.

Whatever. We'll prove our mettle here.

"Working hard?"

I look over my shoulder and find Meghan, who immediately leans over and rests on my shoulder, looking at my meal. "Ehhh, I didn't take you to be a salad eater."

"Frankly I don't care what I eat, as long as it's nutritious and fills my stomach, anything will do." I say, not bothering to react to the fact what I estimate are C, maybe D, cups pushing on the side of my face. "Did you have something to ask me about?"

"Can't a girl just be friendly?" she asks, sitting down in front of me.

"When I have estimated you are an enemy Operator in the upcoming battle, I have every reason to be suspicious of you." I say back immediately. "Also, if you aren't here to eat, then aren't you just loitering?"

"Hey, I'm waiting for my food to be done, excuse _you_."

"I see. Well, I was just about to wrap up—"

"You can't even talk for a few minutes?"

"Well, if there's anything you want to talk about, please tell me."

"Yeesh, you ever hear of 'small talk'?"

"I have, but usually I don't have the time for it. There is a rather important battle coming up, so shouldn't you be preparing rather than making idle chit-chat with me?" I say before beginning to finish up my salad.

"Ehhhh, but it's good to relax too, isn't it?" she asked as I swallow. "Oh, my food's done! 'scuuuuuse me!"

I take the opportunity to slip away, cleaning up my utensils and putting them in the return tin and exiting the cafeteria before Meghan can notice me. I suppose I can keep her thinking about me, it will throw her off during the match.

When I return to my room, I find an orange, legal-sized envelope on my bed. A sticky note with Mei's handwriting reads _"Package for you"_. Seeing as the sender is from one our of covers, I can assume it's the files I requested.

There's a note inside that says _"Call when received"_. As I start reading through Reinhardt's file, I phone MT.

" _Weiss?"_

"It's me. Calling to report package was received successfully. Seems a little light, though."

" _Had some trouble with your other request. It seems she's protected."_

"Protected?"

" _It's difficult to put it in exact words, but there's someone else looking out for her, let's put it that way. It's not so easy to get her files straight away unlike Reinhardt's. I'll pull a few strings, but it'll be some time. I can't divulge all of the details, but Lisarene is special."_

"Should I be careful with her?"

" _Just don't do anything stupid, but I would assume attracting her ire would not be beneficial."_

"Understood. Is that all you wished to say?"

" _Just reminding you to dispose of those when you're done as well. Shred, burn or soak, whatever you need to do."_

"Got it. Don't worry, I won't be so sloppy. Couldn't you just have left a note, though?"

" _Confirming it was_ you _that received the package was a priority."_

"Ah, right, right. Understood."

" _I'll keep you updated on the situation. MT out."_

With that, the phone call ends.

I start reading the files in detail, but there's nothing too delicate in there. Other than having pretty good grades, decent IS sync, and being the daughter of a man who turned in one of the reports on Sea Glass by being aboard the HMCS _Winnipeg_ (which answers what ship her father served on), her record is… completely normal. Absolutely clean. I would normally be suspicious, but it seems that she's nothing more than a military raised girl who was simply keeping the tradition of the family alive in her own way.

Father was Navy. Two brothers, one Navy, one on the Royal Canadian Air Force. Mother wasn't military, but she was a doctor. Pretty good pedigree. The only 'dirty' thing I can find on her record was a disciplinary action record in high school, where she got into some hot water after judo throwing some girl who attacked her, but she was later let off after the investigation finding the girl who attacked her was the instigator and she wasn't really harmed, just humiliated. She seems to be a pretty normal person with a decent moral compass on her.

I know MT's work is top notch. I can trust that Reinhardt's not hiding anything. Just a normal girl.

Lisarene on the other hand, because of her apparent protected status, is going to be troublesome. I suppose I'll just have to be careful. Of course, I suppose that looking like a professional Operator will be rather easy with this upcoming battle…

* * *

"Oh, sensei." I say, pushing a few buttons before getting out of my seat and giving a salute. "I didn't know you'd be joining us today. I would have prepared a champagne bottle."

"You can stop the sass, Kazuma-san, but I suppose your previous handlers and allies had a hand in that."

"Are you ex-military as well, sensei?"

"I had a brief stint. Enough to know that smartass mouths like yours often get rewarded with more pushups. Also, you didn't hear me say that."

"Yes, sensei!" I automatically reply, sharpening my salute.

"Get back to your post, Kazuma-kun." She says with a snort. I nod and turn away, getting back into the chair. "I'm surprised you weren't more careful about hiding your practice sessions recently. Didn't you think they'd try to counter your strategy?"

"Well sensei, it goes like this. When they knew what we were probably going to use, they had two options. One, they could change their intended loadout. Two, they could go with what they normally go with. If one and two are the same, then all the better. However, this is _not_ just a practice match. This is a match for a position. Everyone is going to bring what they do best. Not to mention it's a three-way battle. If they counter one opponent, they might be playing their weak suit and be easy prey for the other."

"Hmph, I suppose that's true."

"It's also a thing with the Armored Core. Most of our opponents, we knew what they were good at. And they did it damn well. While we could try to shift our equipment to best fight them, sometimes that just wasn't an option to make a complete counter-loadout. So you put on a few parts to help take out your opponent, but you still play to your strengths. If you'll excuse me, sensei, I'll be contacting Cayden."

She nods.

I put on the headset and initialize connection, having already logged in. As soon as the connection to Mei is loaded up on the screen, I begin talking.

"Alpha One, do you read me?"

" _Operator, this is Alpha One, I read you."_

"Copy that. Let's review the mission. You have two targets in the open. Both are not allied with one another, but they may team up on you if the situation goes badly. Unknown capabilities. Intel was rotten, but that's why we're sending you. Your skill should be enough to offset that."

" _Give me some conditions in case I've got a sniper. I wanna know if they've got it easy."_

"Sea level altitude. Atmospheric pressure seven fifty three. Temperature's a balmy fifty six Fahrenheit. No wind due to the nature of the arena."

" _Wonderful, I'm easy pickings."_

"Keep on the move. Using your cameras I'll try to get an idea of the sniper's movement and feed it to your screen, if there is one." I say, noting that on my screen "DOCK 1: READY" and "DOCK 2: READY" have signaled as ready with a green light by their name. "Anything else you want to know before deploying?"

I see Mei step onto the catapult, with an alert popping up on my screen displaying "DOCK 3 CATAPULT: LOADED".

" _Just one last thing."_

"Shoot."

" _Will you guide me to victory?"_

I snicker before giving a full blown laugh. The question I always asked her before deploying, how idiotic.

"Of course! Now, bring victory, but more importantly, come back home to us, pilot! Get ready for immediate deployment!"

With that, I ready us for launch. Mei confirms it, with our signal switching to green and "READY".

A mechanical, female voice talks into my ear. _"All docks ready. Initiating match in thirty seconds."_

In our hangar and I'm sure it's happening on the others, the hangar entrance to the arena opens up, the massive door pulling up like a garage, with sunlight filtering in from the bottom and going upwards as more and more of a gap is created.

I watch the timer count down. Five… four… three… two… one…

" _Match beginning."_

I see Mei launched out of the hangar with the catapult. As soon as she's airborne, I see an alert on the screen. _Catapult launch successful. Hangar shields up until hangar has been closed._ At the same time, I see the bay doors coming down in order to shield us. Good.

My attention snaps back to the current field. Pressing several buttons, I gain a vision of the open field. Mei has quickly taken to the skies, although it seem the sun is beaming down and making things difficult to shoot straight up, so she's taken the high route.

"Warning, both hostiles in combat range!" I yell, entering in commands and various shortcuts to get information. I run the ID_ENEMY, getting information back from the cameras from both Mei's unit and the arena cameras, though I rely more on Mei's unit. "I've got another Raphael Revive currently equipped with a… prototype Barret XM109 anti-material rifle! Stay out of that thing's sightlines! The other is a standard Uchigane Kai, just like the regular Uchigane but capable of flight! Watch out, it's got a higher speed and acceleration than you and the pilot is armed with a sword. Don't let it get close! Marking both targets on your screen!"

Mei boosts to the side just enough for the first shot of the sniper rifle—sent by Reinhardt—where the round explodes as it impacts the shield wall behind them. As soon as she dodges, she returns fire, although we're currently firing at around medium distance so not every shot hits. A flood of messages such as "EFFECTIVE HIT", "INEFFECTIVE HIT", "MISS" hit the weapon logs, most likely data sent from the IS calculating its shots.

However, Reinhardt doesn't seem to be moving despite the withering fire after the first initial attempt at a dodge. What is she—

"DODGE, NOW!"

We're just a bit too slow. Mei moves left with her thruster boost but Reinhardt's shot still impacts the shield, then exploding on impact. Kuh, ninety four points lost like _that_ out of eight hundred. She was willing to risk taking a few shots in order to get a better shot by staying still…!

"Dam—warning, blader's within thirty meters of you! Take evasive action!"

" _Uggguuuuuu, they're teaming up on me, Weiss!"_

"Put pressure on the sniper!"

" _Got it!"_

Mei moves towards Reinhardt, opening fire, with more hits than misses this time around. However, Nomida's gaining ground on her due to the speed difference between them.

"Blader's within twenty meters of you, take evasive action!"

" _Dammit!"_

Mei's forced around to deal with and open fire on Nomida, along with putting more focus on small boosts to dodge her strike.

" _What the—"_

As soon as Mei was getting away, I noted a sudden boost in forward speed from Nomida's unit, allowing her to close the distance and deliver a crashing vertical blow onto her. Tch, we're losing shield points way too much!

How to conserve, how to conserve…!

Purging would give us more speed, but that energy blade might be able to cut through the steel blade but it'd leave them so close together that Reinhardt could just blast them with impunity…

"Priority shift—take out the blader! Keep eyes on the sniper! Try to keep the blader between you and the sniper!"

" _Understood! Keep range with the sniper?!"_

"Doesn't matter for now, take out the blader and we'll deal with her then!"

" _Got it!"_

Mei boosts out, aiming for the edge of the arena. Since know that the shields are there and can act like a platform, she ends up riding them while Nomida follows with her better speed.

" _The hell?!"_

"The hell?!" I growl as Nomida shoots out ahead, almost _drifting_ as she swings her blade out—what the hell, she's using her burst when she charges and curving to do hit and runs! "Alpha One, prioritize getting to the edge! She won't be able to circle you there!"

Mei flashes an acknowledge signal, moving over to the shield wall, forcing Nomida to come from only certain angles. As soon as she looks ready for another attack—

"Disable weapon protection for the UMP!"

Mei does so effortlessly, blocking the sword with her UMP at such an angle to not have it completely break. However, because the IS is no longer protecting the UMP, her shields don't flare up. She pushes in deeper, forcing Nomida to act as a shield while also emptying as much of her Cobra into her enemy before Nomida pulls away—

One hundred and forty three shield points melt off our display as a direct shot hits Mei right up in front.

" _That cheating bitch!"_

"Keep your head cool! Focus on taking out the first target!"

" _UMP's busted, though!"_

"Two hand the Cobra and use it to land more accurate shots! Keep an eye out on the sniper, she's a wild card now!"

" _Yeah and I'm about to discard her—"_

"Cayden, focus on the mission!"

With a huff from Cayden, she tosses aside the UMP which falls to the ground as she puts both hands on the Cobra and lets loose a barrage. Keep at it, keep at it…

"—move!"

However, the boost ends up being unnecessary, as Nomida prevented a successful shot. She managed to use her boost trick again to charge Reinhardt, with Reinhardt seeming have missed Nomida's presence. She fires off several times wildly, hoping to discourage a chase. While she focuses on dodging, Reinhardt moves away and attempts another shot, striking Nomida head on.

"Wrap it up, Alpha One!"

The reload kicks in and the shots go flying. Nomida tries another charge at Mei, but Mei positions herself where she boosts right, putting up her knee and if it had been an actual hand to hand fight, would've been a _nasty_ hit to the jaw before turning around in the air and blasting Nomida before delivering a striking blow to the back of her head, the shields flaring up.

Another sniper shot rings out before my screen reads "DOCK 2: TAIGEI NOMIDA – UCHIGANE KAI: ELIMIATED". It seems she's to retreat, as she immediately clears out of the area.

Now…

"Purge the Cobra!"

" _You've got to be kidding me, right?!"_

"While PIC allows for flight, the thrusters are what give you the speed! That extra weight is going to pull you down. Go blade only and divert as much power as you can to forward and side thrusters for those quick flare-ups!"

" _Guh… alright, I'll trust you!"_

On the display, all I see now along her weapons list is "ARM R: IS-EB-O600". Her top speed shifts due to the lack of weight from both guns.

The crack of the sniper rifle fills the air again—and it misses, with Mei having travelled faster than before, the ground taking an explosion behind her.

"Now!"

I keep guiding Mei, using my skills honed from years of piloting the AC to predict those sniper shots. Now that it's one on one, Reinhardt doesn't stand a chance!

"Finish this!"

Waiting until a good moment to charge forward, Mei then shoots out, her energy blade glowing as she delivers her first critical hit to Reinhardt. While it's harder to hit with the energy blade, it deals _ridiculous_ amounts of damage. In three quick slices, Mei manages to knock off almost three hundred shield points. Each one is almost as powerful as a direct hit with that sniper rifle, but compared to the rifle, once in range, is a lot easier to hit with.

Add in the fact there's no Quickboost to really get away… the match is almost decided.

Reinhardt does her best to keep Mei away, almost _fencing_ with the sniper rifle to parry her in a way by taking advantage of the fact she can knock Mei's arms aside as the blade itself has no weight. Partway through, she swaps to her pistol, discarding the sniper rifle. The weight difference allows her to get away, but it won't mean anything.

…but something's off. Even though she's swapped to the pistol and discarded having to push around the sniper rifle, she's moving slower than I thought she would.

We can't fine tune these units… something doesn't feel right. I can't get a scan of her unit though. Tch…

"Hm?"

I then note Reinhardt shoots straight for the ground. Ah…!

"You've no choice but to engage her on the ground. Attack from the air and charge from above. I'm thinking she's about to force her way with hand-to-hand combat."

It has to be some sort of melee trump card. Something that deals incredible damage at short range. But where would she store it…?

" _You can't tell?"_

"I don't know completely how the shields for the Infinite Stratos function, but my safe bet is she's going to try something like a fist fight."

" _Got it. Engaging."_

If Mei goes for her discarded weapons, which might not work, then Reinhardt might try recovering her sniper rifle. There's no choice.

Starting with a coordinated attack from above, Mei begins her offensive. I can't do much but watch as the struggle continues.

Mei's blade flashes in. Reinhardt steps back, dodging as she throws away her pistol, before attempting a hip check. That's offset by Mei's shields. It catches Reinhardt off-guard for long enough that Mei swings in again, scoring—

" _What the—?!"_

The buzzer goes off. Victory has been had.

But it isn't Mei who won.

Reinhardt had been waiting, I suppose, as she pulls her arm away from Mei, where a pile bunker concealed in her arm's armor had been exposed, used to deliver the final blow as Mei's shields had been reduced through the match.

I see… she purposely hit Mei's shields, bounced off, waited for Mei to swing again and used the opening for the final hit. Damn… clever girl.

"These shields make no fucking sense." I mutter… oops. "Sorry sensei."

"A bit of a disappointing end. Also, just don't talk like that in front of the other students." She snaps back before relaxing her tone. "Did they not cover shields for you?"

"I only know the basics of shielding in my crash course."

"I suppose that as beginners, it's only fair. They don't usually cover that on the examinations to get in. The default settings is the radial option. It gives a full, ellipsoid shield around the unit. Anything that the IS determines as a harm is automatically defended against. However, as you noted, it can be disabled for specific components."

"That's all I was informed about, I suppose. They said protecting weapons can be costly."

"It can. Of course, the advanced users can customize the way a shield is implemented. For example, a full radial method presents a large target. The enemy can shoot the air around you and it will still register a hit on the shield to stop the bullet. Disabling weapon protection is the first step. The step after that is what some call 'Bodysuit Shielding', where the shields are instead interwoven to fit an exact shape around you. It requires a lot more computing power, so you need a better processor and obviously, more power to run it. A sniper is more likely to run this in order to create the smallest target possible. Cayden automatically triggered it when you had her disable weapon protection."

"I see."

"The final stage is called 'Near-Manual Control'. This is what most users on the level of Personal Units are capable of, especially with those who specialize in hand-to-hand combat. Your IS has to be tough though, as only hits that must absolutely be guarded against will be shielded. It is the most consuming in power though, as the threat is not guarded against until the IS detects it and deems it a threat at almost the last possible moment. This is what allows for hand-to-hand—you can guard against a blade with the physical armor of your unit and counter."

"But this would leave the pilot most vulnerable, right?"

"Indeed. Of course, no one has come up with detection scrambling due to a lack of understanding on how the core exactly works, so it's fairly safe… but there's a chance in the field, it could be exploited. I will go over this with the others as well. Short version: you can either choose to be shielded all around but require less overall power due to being to register the threat faster and take advantage of a circular shield to bounce attacks off and lessen their potential, or you can present a smaller target but have to use more shield power in order to stop a target at the last second."

"And so when using the pile driver…"

"It's a weapon of extraordinary force, coupled with the close proximity of the attack, would require a lot of energy to stop it right in its tracks."

"Ah, no wonder our shield points vanished so quickly. Such a fearsome weapon."

"Hmph."

"A—oh, excuse me. Alpha One, this is Operator, come in."

" _Operator, I read you."_

"Come on home, we've got some review to do, and pick up your weapons." I say as our teacher moves over to another terminal, swipes herself in, and then puts on the headset. I note that a new broadcast has come up on my screen underneath the private channel, reading "PUBLIC: ALL STATIONS AND UNITS".

"Cayden."

" _Y-y-yes, sensei?!"_

"Decent work out there. A little sloppy for a pilot of your caliber, but I suppose you're getting used to the system as a whole. You got a little overconfident at the end as well. Good work from your Operator. Reinhardt."

" _I hear you, sensei."_

"Good sniping, but you let your guard down and failed to notice Nomida's approach. You were also a little slow to react to Cayden's sudden weapon change. Good job on the surprise attack, but I imagine if Kazuma had paid a little more attention or had better scanning equipment he might have discerned something."

" _Yes, sensei."_

"Overall, good. Now, your Operator—you need to pay more attention, Stoneson. Support your pilot more."

" _Y-Y-YES, I'LL DO THAT, SENSEI!"_ Meghan's slightly panicked voice yells over the channel.

"Hmph. Nomida."

" _Y-y… yes, sensei?"_

"You did well against two ranged fighters. Your reflexes were a little slow, but keep at it and learn to read your opponents and their abilities. That faking of Ignition Boost wasn't your idea, was it?"

" _No… it was my Operator, Yumemi-sensei."_

"Thank your Operator, then, because she came up with something that put the others off-guard. Of course, you need to be able to read the situation better. It was obvious she was being used as a shield by Cayden, isn't that right, Lisarene?"

" _In hindsight, it was. I apologize for my incompetence, sensei."_

"You were anything but incompetent. All of you did well today. The results are obvious—the winner is Reinhardt Ursula." She says as Mei enters the hangar, with the doors having opened while she flew in. "Congratulations to all of you, for a good effort for the fight. Of course, I'll be speaking to all of you about what you need to fix in private. Sensei out."

With that, the broadcast comes to an end.

"Welcome home, Alpha One." I say as the hangar doors close, Mei putting her single weapon back in its case. I take off my headphones and look over—

"The weapons will be evaluated. Those that need to be replaced will be replaced, those that can are repairable will be done. The school has plenty of funding and it's already been factored in. Just don't toss around those weapons wildly. But then again, they are IS weapons, they're built tough for a purpose."

I nod, turning my attention back to the screen. "—sorry for not guiding you to victory. In a real battle, you would've died."

" _It's alright. You did your best."_

"Shouldn't I be the one saying that to you?"

" _Heh. Well, if you feel so bad about it, get me a steak tonight."_

"So opportunistic." I mumble. "But I hear you. Meet me at the entrance to the changing area. Operator out."

With that, I sign off the terminal and stand up. "Sensei, may I have an evaluation?"

"Other than not telling your pilot to switch shield modes and also paying more attention to her speed, I do not know what else to offer you. Although I have to say, it seemed more like you were telling her what to do if you were piloting. And that you not catching that was rather sloppy of you."

"I was just using the cameras and seeing when Reinhardt was readying to pull the trigger. It felt like cheating, though, as normally I wouldn't have a camera right on her. Though, you read my profile, I'm sure—before I took the role of Operator, I was an _operative_ , after all. As for not catching that pile driver, I had a feeling but chose not to act on it."

"I did read that. You've sharp eyes."

"It comes with the job." I say offhandedly, swiping my ID at the door to open it, with my teacher following me through. "Anything else?"

"It amused me that for old partners, she didn't trust you when you told her to throw away her gun."

"Her unit wasn't optimized for a blader attack. It was only natural she'd hesitate. I would have done the same. I do have to admit that it does seem like I was trying to pull the strings, but if I had told her the plan right away, she might have given something away by positioning herself a little too closely to Reinhardt."

"Hm. Well, I suppose I'll talk to your pilot now. Good job today. I'll be expecting a lot out of the six of you from here on out."

"Understood, m—sensei."

With a curt nod, she walks down the stairs to the changing area while I slump up against a wall before sliding down. Hmph. We could've done better. I suppose going with a normal rifle build would have been fine, but I projected a little onto Mei and gave her two guns like an AC.

I need to check what weapons she's best at. If Mei ever goes into live combat, that could very well save her life.

Still though… it feels odd being an Operator to Mei than the others I trained with. Ha…

"You look down."

I bring my head up and see Mei who is extending a hand, smiling the whole time.

"Yumemi-sensei didn't give it to you too rough, did she?"

"She asked if I used to use two guns on my AC and told me that the system is very, very different. If I was going to dual wield, at least use machine pistols, not friggin' submachine guns."

"Sorry about that." I say, taking her hand, with which Mei pulls me up to my feet. "I'll do better about your weapon selection next time. I should've tried to prevent that as well."

"Aaaaah, geez, we're both at fault on the battlefield. We're a unit after all. But besides that, _you_ owe me a steak~" she lowers her voice. "…you knew about the pile driver, didn't you?"

"I noticed something, but didn't mention it. Not used to these units having hidden weapons, looks like I'll have do to more research into that."

"Really?"

"Yeah. We never had that shit on the AC and I didn't anticipate it being used here. Mainly because everything we've seen so far doesn't indicate hidden weapons on the actual unit itself, rather they be summoned quickly. I would think of a pilot having weapons on them, but not the actual system. It seems I have a lot to learn."

"Ah…" She nods. "I'll trust you, then. I know you're looking out for them. Now, let's eat!"

* * *

"Ooooh, we've got a welcome party." Mei says as we walk towards a group of four people made up of Reinhardt, Lisarene, Meghan, and what I assume is Nomida.

"Nomida-san?" I ask as we approach, scanning over the unknown girl. She's wearing of course, the IS Acadmey uniform, though compared to the others she's got it completely buttoned up, the skirt is a little longer than the others, going past her knees, and she's wearing dark grey stockings. She has black hair and reddish-orange eyes, which immediately look away from me when I talk.

"T-that's me…" she whispers with a nod.

"Excellent work out there."

"Hey, shouldn't I be saying that?" Mei said, stepping in front of me. "Or are you flirting with her?"

"I know a good pilot when I see one, Cayden. Besides, she put you on the ropes, so she has to have some skill about her." I say, brushing her off. "Were you waiting for us?"

"Well, it was more of that we ran into each other and so we thought we'd all you know, have a small little sit down." Meghan said. I suppose she's the mood maker of the class. So? You up for dinner?"

"Who's paying?" I say with a smile.

"You're the guy, so aren't _you_ supposed to pay?" Mei asks with a grin that makes me want to punch her in the face.

"Tough luck then, I ain't paying for you." I grumble. "I guess it might be a good idea to know those who were fighting us. Shall we go then? A little early for dinner, but a meal's a meal."

We all go in and order our meals, with Meghan deciding to go find us a table that'll hold all of us along with Mei, leaving me alone with the others.

"I didn't think you'd be an Operator." I say to Lisarene, who's checking something on her phone.

"Well, I knew my way around parts. I figured I could at least try to help her, isn't that right Nomida?"

"Y… yes, it is. Thank you very much!" Nomida says, giving a deep bow.

"Egh, you don't need to bow for that. Besides, your friend should've helped you out more considering she left you high and dry. But I guess she did that for a reason. You were pretty damn good out there, you've got some skill considering I was minimally guiding you."

"Sorry for the gang-up, by the way. It was… the only path I could see to victory… which of course, didn't happen. But then again, I suppose that's an empty apology. You do what you need to do on the battlefield."

"Getting cold feet?" Reinhardt asks with a small snicker.

"You should've heard Mei swearing at you when you shot her instead of Nomida-san." At this, Reinhardt gives a small smile and Lisarene laughs. " _'That cheating bitch!'_ I believe were her words."

"I can imagine." Reinhardt says before Mei returns. "Did you find a seat?"

"Yep, Meghan's holding onto it for now." Before Mei can bring us over, several order numbers are called. Oh, how fortunate. We managed to get everything all at once.

"Gimme your ticket, I'll get your stuff." I say, with Mei handing me two tickets.

"One's from Meghan, so take care of that too, mkay? And by the way, let _me_ tell my own insults, Kazuma."

"Yeah, yeah." I mutter, taking both and walking over. The other girls get their own meals, with Reinhardt taking some sort of alfredo dish with bread, Nomida with a ramen bowl, and Lisarene with two slices of pepperoni pizza.

Of course, I take on my chicken Caesar salad, Mei's beef soup, and Meghan's fried rice over to them, all on one tray. I quickly put down the food items in front of them before going to return the tray.

"Salad _again_?" Mei grumbles as I get back to the table. "Seriously, I swear you only eat salads."

"I ate cereal this morning." I fire back, opening the ranch dressing that came with it and drizzling it over the lettuce. "And for lunch I had a deli sandwich."

"Bleegh. I don't get how you eat them all the time."

"It's nutritious and it keeps me filled, I've stated that before. So, what did you all wait for us for, anyways? Did you just want to talk with those you fought with? Or did you want to set a secondary in case Reinhardt can't fight if she's sick or something?"

"Right down to business, aren't you?" Reinhardt says back. "Well, it wasn't really anything of the sort. I just thought it might be nice to know you. Er, all of you. There's a lot of students who came from Japan already and most of them naturally find themselves together so when Meghan wanted to pull us all together…" She quickly tucks her head down, hiding her face. "Geez, this is quite embarrassing to say."

"In short—" Lisarene says before raising a finger to finish swallowing her food. "—you thought it might be nice to make friends."

"I suppose if you put it like that, yes. It's always nice to have someone you can go to for support that isn't a counselor." Reinhardt says, coughing into her fist to recompose herself. "That, and seeing that no one else has really challenged you further, I'd like to also know you two to further my knowledge and skills. Well, all of you. There's a lot to learn. Honestly, I thought you had me today. I wasn't expecting to win with that hidden driver, so I'd like it if my victories were more… well, had more confidence behind them."

"Hmmm, I'm more on the first point. It's kinda been rough, making some new friends other than my roommate." Meghan follows up with a smile on her face. "But I suppose if our professional Operator wouldn't mind showing us the ropes, that wouldn't be half bad either."

I give a snort. "So in short, you're trying to butter us up to get us to help te—"

I'm smacked in the back of the head by Mei.

"What Kazuma's _trying_ to say, because he's really bad at this sort of thing which is why he stares at computers all day, is that he appreciates you extending a hand."

"That wasn't what I was trying to say at all, but I was going to get to that. If that's the truth, then you should be ready. Mei might go a little easy on you, but I certainly won't. I'm sure that those sessions are recorded. You'll see what I mean later."

"Three points or less, what _do_ you mean then?" Lisarene asks before slouching in her seat, holding her pizza above her and letting the cheese slide down into her mouth.

As I look into their faces when I say my next words, I see a determination in their eyes. No matter how hidden, these girls are driven by something. Ha… it's like I never left Hidden Hand.

"The lessons I would teach are not to win. No, they will be to _survive._ How to live on the battlefield. How to defeat the enemy. How to accomplish the objective. They won't be how to win an arena battle. In fact I greatly disliked today's battle because it was open terrain, which is foolish given the IS' potential. But if you'll accept this, then very well—I will help how I can. You all seem promising, anyways, and I suppose this Operator of a dying system can teach you a few tricks."

* * *

 **Wow this took way too long to get out.**

 **Well, I hope you had fun reading this chapter. It's been a while since I really had to write an IS battle and I tried to make it fast paced without being too short.**

 **Making up what the Operator sees was something I had probably way too much fun with. All of the various viewpoints, the cameras, the diagrams, and the interface in general. I kind of just let myself go and wrote whatever came to mind that seemed right and then put it all together, hehe.**

 **I also had some fun toying with the shield system. Three types of shields so I can play around with it later, and also I thought it might add a bit of complexity in battle. Swapping shield types in order to suit a situation and conserve on power sounded like fun. I tried to give it some pros and cons. The radial shield can 'bounce' attacks by strategically positioning yourself to prevent a direct hit but give a larger area to shoot, while the near-manual control allows the least targetable area, but it would make you take more damage on being hit.**

 **And finally, uniting the main cast. I thought rather than introduce them one at a time, I'd simply make them all come together and then slowly branch out. I wanted to try a new mechanic in character interactions. Usually I've done "focus one character" and slowly branch out. I wanted to try having them as a group, although at the start I want to do a focus on characters so you can learn what makes them tick and how they work before the big group interactions where they build off each other happens.**

 **Anyways, let me know what you guys think of the changes and other things I've tried to do. See you guys next time!**


	4. Legacy of Belief

**AHAHAHAHAHA DOING WELL IN COLLEGE AND FREE TIME ARE MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE OR SO I FOUND OUT THE HARD WAY.**

 **Anyways, I'm back! I'll do review replies later but for now, chapter! Here we go! Let' just jump right into this.**

 **AGH SORRY FOR THE DOUBLE UPDATE, FFNET HAD SOME WEIRD UPLOADING ERROR.**

* * *

 **Chapter 4:** Legacy of Belief

* * *

I leap back, dodging the swing from Mei's knife. Even though it won't actually cut me, a block of wood like that's going to leave a mark. Taking the window that opened up, I slip underneath her due to the size of her unit before turning around leaving a slash on her back. Or at least I would, had this been a real knife and she didn't have her shields up in 'Near-Manual Mode'. It flickers up and deflects my knife as I cut near her exposed abdomen area, but I've been attacking long enough and doing enough experimenting I'm able to make the attack without my grip on the knife being loosened.

"Dammit…!" Mei hisses as I look for another opening. Got you.

Without another word, I continue my assault. Fighting her in an IS has similarities if I was fighting some sort of powered machine. She can swing just as hard if not harder than a normal person, so I rely mainly on watching her feet and reading her movements along with the size of the unit. Because an IS has a large frame compared to a normal person, I can abuse things like blind spots more.

In hand to hand, against a skilled combatant, the IS becomes nothing more than just a massive set of armor. I can also grapple as well, because the IS shields only activate in this mode if an attack would connect. But it means I can latch onto it and use it as a hold to get in close unless she chooses to activate the shields on me.

Of course, this means if the IS were to be piloted by someone whose physical abilities bordered on the level of inhumane, they truly would be fearsome to go up against.

"Gr…!" I grit my teeth as Mei boosts to the right then left quickly, throwing me off as my grip wasn't too storng. I tuck myself in and roll on the ground, pushing myself to get more distance between Mei and I before coming up off the ground. "You're getting better."

"I had a good teacher, after all."

I switch my grip to a reverse style while charging in. Knowing that Mei can apply much more force, I carefully feint a swing to try to get her to block. She takes the bait. I use my smaller frame to quickly retract my arm, causing her to whiff. I step in close and go for a vertical slice before ducking underneath her legs.

"Stop doing that!"

"You need to learn to read your opponent better. Especially because of your larger frame. How humiliating would it be for you to win IS matches easily but fall to a single footman carving you up with a knife?"

"Gra…!"

"You're getting provoked. Keep a level head, Cayden."

I move in once again, knife in my right hand, reverse grip. Closing the distance easily, I don't give any indication of where I'm going to hit. I'll force you to open yourself up…

When Mei realizes that I'm not going to attack, she attempts to make first contact by slicing where my chest is. Because she's so huge in the suit, I can easily read the attack and duck. It passes above my head. Got—

"Kuh!"

I go flying as a knee from Mei slams into me, knocking me to the ground.

"You bitch, that's cheating, that's what it is…" I mutter as she stands over me, flipping her off.

"You're the one who was climbing on top of me." She fires back as I get back on my feet.

"Yeah, yeah… Well, good job catching me off guard like that. Although, if you were fighting foot soldiers who were insistent on hand to hand combat, you should probably just switch to radial shielding to repel them. But again, you damn cheater. This was supposed to be a knife exercise."

"Our condition was I get a hit in. The knife was just a suggestion."

"Heh, I've taught you well."

"Rule Zero: Never fight fair."

"Indeed. Now, there's something that I'd like to do."

Mei grins. "You haven't fired one in a while, right?"

"Let's go."

We head back up to the launching platform, where we request through the terminal a Barret M82… for Mei, of course.

Mei then passes it to me and I bring it over to the edge of the launching platform. I then lie prone and prepare to fire, with Mei standing behind me.

"You brought the cans, right?" Mei asks as I look down the scope.

"Yeah. Plastic bag, left it by the terminal."

"You freaking battle maniac." She mutters, retrieving the cans and then flying out, setting down the cans all over the arena's field.

I chuckle before getting into a serious mindset, calming myself. Rather ideal conditions for shooting. Another clear day, eh?

Well then. Let's go shooting for a bit. While I'm at my best when blading, I suppose that my predecessor's skill in a rifle bleeding over to me has its benefits.

And besides, before I became _Dark Breeze_ , I was raised to be a long distance killer…

* * *

 _ **Armored Hearts**_

* * *

The crack of the sniper rifle rang out again, with another can exploding into dust.

"Eight for eight." Reinhardt muttered, watching through binoculars as she looked on from the stands in the arena, having followed them to learn just what kind of people she was dealing with. The look in Mei's eyes when they fought hand to hand… it had certainly been the eyes of a killer. And there was no doubt in her mind Weiss was aware of this as well.

The way her carried himself, the way he spoke, something of it smelt of military. However, something about it differed. With her family, she understood military pride and love for the country and more importantly, that you had something to fight for when you were out there.

Weiss was an exception to that. There was no pride, any loyalty he concealed for any one place was incredibly well hidden, and during their one spar when she wanted to get a feel for him—he had felt empty. She knew that when fighting, the aim was to incapacitate the enemy without bringing harm to yourself. That was exactly how Weiss fought, but while she put her pride from her family and the objective of winning in order to become a better combatant in her strikes, something in Weiss' movements just gave her a feeling of emptiness.

It bugged her to no end, that she could not put it into logical terms, having to fall back on this 'feeling'.

Her thoughts were interrupted by someone taking flight in her vision.

"Eh? Mei's flying out again…?"

She was surprised to find Mei dodging Weiss' shots. Or at least, trying to dodge all of them. Despite knowing where he was, it was if Weiss was reading her movements, predicting her every twitch.

 _He's calm. Incredibly so._

 _The person he is firing at is not Mei Cayden. He is not firing at Mei Cayden in a firing and dodging exercise._

 _Right now, he's a hunter. Down those sightlines, he sees another target he must eliminate. A target that must die. From here…_ she then focused her sights on Weiss, who was still firing—and now reloading—her gaze settling on him. _…It's as if he revels in it. Something draws him to combat. Even if… no, I still need to finish processing everything from that spar._

 _It's strange, though. Cayden was the pilot and Kazuma was the Operator. But from here, you'd be more likely to believe that_ Weiss _is the real pilot._

She sighed, shaking her head.

 _There's so much more to think about. They're not really who they say they are, are they? I should probably just let it go…_

… _because I'd hate to be on the wrong end of Kazuma's sights._

Meanwhile, somewhere else in the arena, another person was watching.

Taigei remained breathless as she watched from above, hidden to even Reinhardt who was scanning the arena for anyone else who had followed the two to their practice session. She had come here to find out the reasoning of the words Cayden had said when questioned about the partnership she shared with Weiss. That without him, she wasn't anything.

She too, like Reinhardt, when locked in combat with Cayden, had seen the eyes of death in front of her. But if Weiss was the one behind Cayden, then she would follow things up to the source.

"S-strong…" she muttered to herself. "…they're definitely strong. But despite being unable to use an Infinite Stratos, he's amazingly strong…"

Yes, certainly he could teach her. The reason he could fight without hesitation. The reason on why even when faced with an IS and nothing but a knife, he could fight. The reason that despite being in the most advanced fighting platform in the world, Mei seemed to be struggling to dodge at times.

That resolve to pull the trigger.

She couldn't help but think that even if it was a real battle, one where the knives were made of killer steel and Mei was really intending to kill Weiss, that he could win. Well, maybe not win, but he could certainly put up a fight that would make any decent pilot question their actual ability.

 _BWHAAHHHH!_ The rifle went again, cracking with the intent to kill.

Taigei wondered how he could so easily shoot, knowing it was someone he was clearly friends with receive the bullet. She could do the same in a practice fight, yes, but here… from here, it looked as if he was shooting to kill, every time. This wasn't just _practice_ , this was something more.

"I… I have to ask him."

* * *

 _ **Armored Hearts**_

* * *

I give a small huff, pushing the door open with my right hand, my document case in my left. We spent a lot longer than I thought we did, as the sun is already setting, painting the entire island with an orange hue.

"A bit of a strange place to be standing, isn't it Nomida-san?" I call out to the girl in question, with her quickly being startled as she takes a few steps back after a small leap of surprise. I decide simply not to approach and stand still. "Are you waiting for Cayden? She'll be out in a few minutes, always took her time showering."

"U… um, no, that wasn't it."

"Oh." Seeing that she's no longer trying to curl up and be smaller, I begin walking towards her.

"By the way, the sunset is _that_ way." I say, pointing to the west, while she was looking southward.

"Um…!"

"Oh. That wasn't it either?" I put a hand on my chin, wondering how best to handle this. "Ah. This is one of those 'confessions' I've heard about, isn't it? I'm sorry Nomida-san, but I can't return the feeling. Although you picked quite a nice spot. Out in the open is a bit controversial though."

"T-that's not it!" she yells out, her face turning bright red. "I… I want you to teach me to fight!"

"…I'm not trained in swords, Nomida-san." I say, walking up to and then past her. "You're already a seemingly decent swordswoman. The most I can teach you is really what any military teacher could, but then you'd have to learn the basics from that. If you wish to read your opponent better, that is something I could teach you, but there isn't much more than that."

"Then…!"

"I'll talk with Mei about i—"

"I want you teach me how to become stronger!"

I stop in my tracks, not turning around to face her. I can't imagine what kind of face she has on right now. But I know my face is probably something I shouldn't show to her.

"I can't teach you to become strong." I say very pointedly, to the point I can _feel_ the words she was about to say die in her throat. I have to take a breath before I accidentally let the next words out of my mouth.

'… _because I didn't have a choice.'_

I didn't have a choice to become a good pilot. It was all I could do to survive. And some fights weren't brute force. I forced their hands. I knew to survive, they had to die. So I put their loved ones on the line. It was cowardly. It was only after… after I got my hands on a NEXT and became "Dark Breeze" for a while I fought anything head-on.

"W… why? There has to be something, right?"

"I said, I _cannot_ teach you to be strong. It's… something outside what I can do."

"But I saw you! I saw you fight Mei… you… you are strong, so how—"

"—how does he do it?" Another female voice asks.

"Cayden. I didn't expect you to arrive."

"Kazuma, that's pretty heavyhanded. And well, maybe she doesn't know what to ask. What do you mean by 'get stronger', Nomida-san?"

"I… I want you to teach me how, because maybe if I was strong enough, I can commit to my path. Without hesitation."

"You've got it wrong." I immediately fire back. "It's not that because I am strong, I can commit. It's because I commit, I can be strong. Because I commit to what I need to do, because my path I have chosen will not waver, I can do whatever I need to do in order to achieve its end."

I start walking away, almost stomping. Tch, getting emotional now.

"…whatever it is you want to do, until you've chosen to throw everything you have into it, you won't be strong."

"T… t-hen how do you deal with the doubt if you're path is right?!"

I pause, if only for a second.

"I told you—because I commit, I can be strong. Stronger than any doubt. Strong enough to not turn back."

"Although really _Weiss_ , you can be a little weak at times." Mei says.

"I'm well aware of that." I reply back right away.

"You really believe those words, don't you, Kazuma?"

I glance over my shoulders and find Mei with her right hand on her hip, a small smile on her face.

I give a small sigh and relax myself. "I believe those words, even if I fail to completely practice them. I still need to fix that, after all. Holding yourself to your ideals is hard in this world."

"Isn't it?"

I give a small huff and start walking away again. "But that's all there is to it, Nomida-san. If you want me to teach you to fight more effectively, not necessarily with a sword, then _that_ I can teach you. But don't think that it'll teach you to be strong."

"Hey, Kazuma, wait uuuup!" Mei yells as she sprints away from Nomida, catching up to me and latching onto my arm. She then leans up close to my ear, whispering. "That was a little harsh, wasn't it?"

"Sorry."

"…but she asked you something you didn't like, huh?"

"It's still a bit of a sore point." I mumble. "Maybe I played my hand a little too much today. I figured someone would be watching us."

"Hehe, what, do you think they're going to think _you're_ the pilot now?"

"They might, possibly, although it should be very unlikely. And of course, there's a distinct lack of proof towards that conclusion and a plethora of proof that I'm just an Operator. An Operator, of course, with a few special trainings elsewhere. Also, Mei."

"Hm?"

"Get me something from the cafeteria, to-go."

"Want to give her some time to think?"

"I don't think I should talk to people for a bit, I might be a little snappy is all. At this rate I might slip up somewhere."

"Got it… you softie."

"Shut it. She's got potential, is all, and came to ask me. I guess I'm a bad person to ask for help on this crap, but I suppose she figured out the right person to talk to for that…" I bitterly mutter to myself.

"Alright. But you can't keep running away, you know? One day she's going to work up enough courage to come to you for help. She just seems like that kinda girl."

I give a small huff. "We'll see about that."

* * *

"Your meal's—hm?"

I wave Mei over silently. She closes the door and walks over before passing me my food, which is a simple boxed bento in a to-go box. I break the chopsticks apart and keep eating, paying attention to the TV.

"Something going on?"

"Dunoa Corporations just released a statement saying they've reached a deal with Rayleonard and BFF. Looks like they'll be taking Infinite Stratos development in a new direction, pursuing not third generation Infinite Stratos Units, but the first generation of a unit that mixes both the AC and IS.

" _How will this affect IS Academy?"_

" _We will be talking to IS Academy, along with several representatives, about having them test parts in combat for us. We are aware that there are several pilots at IS Academy that use the weapons converted to IS usage by Rayleonard and BFF, but we'll see where this goes before any further statements are made."_

"Looks like you need to kick ass out there. Hmm… I wonder if it'll use AMS. Or will it just be an IS core that gets implanted into an AC-sized frame?"

"You think _they_ had anything to do with this?" Mei asks, sitting down on the bed next to me.

"I'd be more surprised if they didn't."

MT hasn't given us any more news on Hidden Hand. We're supposed to be kept in the dark, after all, and only receive information as needed. I could see deal happening though, I just didn't expect it to happen like that.

Seems like it was kept off the radar though, as Dunoa needed this deal. Well, all the companies involved needed this deal, let's be honest. Still though, does this mean we might be able to use AMS to pilot an IS unit…? This could radically change everything… maybe even fix the mistake I made…

"I imagine they're going to get a lot of backlash."

"That's true." Mei says before taking a swig of water. "This is their last ditch effort, right?"

"Yeah. Either they stay relevant with this, or two of the greatest IS companies die out with little more than a whimper." I mutter, lowering my head. "I don't think we used very many of their parts, but still."

"I heard Interior Union's managed to sign in as a research branch with another company though. Scaling down their energy weapons might help keep them in."

"Yeah."

"So, if for whatever reason, I ever get a personal unit, we'll definitely be using AC company parts, right?"

"Of course."

I wait until it's 2330 hours before calling it a night, with MT not giving us a call. Looks like we're not required to know anything for this news. We should just accept it as it is.

At six thirty the next day, I wake up, change into a grey t-shirt and black shorts, throw on a running pack that holds my phone, wallet, and phone key, and then go jogging. I need to clear my head of all this crap. No better way to do that than a jog. I haven't done a close analysis yet of how much distance it is between places.

There's a few other morning risers too.

"On your left." I say, passing by another jogger who's in a grey tracksuit.

"Oh, Kazuma-san." She says in reply as I take the lead. "Morning!"

"Morning to you as well." I reply before continuing on, intent on leaving her behind. However, I hear footsteps at a faster pace, with Reinhardt now next to me on the right. "Pushing yourself?"

"Thought I'd keep up." She says between breathes. I slightly increase my pace, keeping an even face. "Haven't seen you over the past few days."

"I usually just do a small routine in my room. I really only going jogging to clear my head. I prefer swimming in all honesty."

"Ah, I see."

I glance over and scan over her, finding it seems to be a Canadian Navy branded suit. "Family gifted that suit?"

"Eh?"

"The suit brand, insignia on the left sleeve."

"Oh." she says as we round a corner, now heading towards one of the arenas. "Yes, it was. I used to run track on the side."

"Events?"

"Two hundred and four hundred meter dash."

"Ever ranked?"

"Second and third in districts, placed seventh and tenth in regionals."

"Not bad."

"Dad was in the military, even if I was the only daughter of the family I was going to be able to run and fight. Or so he told me. Got that from his father, who raised three daughters before him."

"Heh. Legacy's a funny thing sometimes."

"So, I suppose you heard the news last night. Dunoa and the other AC companies?"

"Yeah. Not sure how it'll affect us. Mei's not exactly known, but if someone wants her to pilot, that's fine with me. Besides, I'm only an Operator. What parts she decides to use is up to her in the end."

"Did you do anything before being an Operator?"

"Well, I did this and that before becoming an Operator. Was almost born into it, really. Can't say much else."

"Ah, I get it. Dad couldn't always talk about things. Didn't understand until I was older."

"…speaking of your military background, want to do a running cadence?"

"Ha, sure. Come up with one and I'll follow. Heading back to the dorms?"

"Was planning on it, this is about as far as you'll get from them."

"Then, lead us off, sir!"

We get to the arena and follow the curved pathway. As we get off the sidewalk that rounds the arena building, I start us off.

" _Wake up men, get up and rise!"_ I call out.

" _Wake up men, get up and rise!"_ Reinhardt echoes, matching my volume.

" _It's time to support our allies!"_ I say a bit louder.

" _It's time to support our allies!"_ She says right back, full of enthusiasm.

At this point, we're attracting attention, but neither of us seems to mind.

" _Domination by land, sea, and air!"_

" _Domination by land, sea, and air!"_

" _We will win anywhere!"_

" _We will win anywhere!"_

* * *

"Phew, my throat's going to be sore. Not to mention you stepped up the pace. Sheesh, you don't show a girl any mercy, do you, Kazuma-san?"

"I don't think I'm the merciful type, and you were the one who decided to try to keep up. Also, just Kazuma will do, or Weiss. I don't mind." I say as we stretch outside one of the entrances to the dorm building, cooling down from the run. "You're from Canada, right? I was based in the US for long enough, you don't need to force the whole honorifics thing around me."

"Ah… well, it might prove to be inconvenient if I don't, but perhaps while we're in private, I'll do so. Thank you, Weiss. The same goes for you, then."

"Would you prefer Ursula or Reinhardt?"

"I'll leave it as your discretion."

"Hm, well, I suppose Reinhardt will do, it's a bit of a habit for me to keep addressing people by last name. Good run today, although if you're going to keep up next time, try a little harder."

"Try harder, he says!" Reinhardt says with a laugh, wrapping up her stretching. "Really now, I suppose that on a jog you might have me beat, but I'm sure that I'm much faster than you in a sprint."

I open the door inside for her, with Reinhardt chuckling the whole way in as she runs a hand through her blonde hair.

"Oh that's right, we have a practical exercise today. I wonder what we'll be doing." I say as we go up the stairs. "And more importantly, what I'll be doing seeing as I can't pilot. Ah, that does remind me, I suppose if I get locked into being your Operator, I need to study your patterns. Unless you'd prefer to have Meghan."

"That's something I'll have to consider…" she mumbles. "…I would like having a more experienced hand, though."

"Well, at your discretion then, _Class Representative._ " I say back before opening the door to the third floor. "I'll see you in class today, then?"

"I'll see you there." She says with a bit of a scoff, probably at my emphasis on her title.

I walk back to my room, unlocking and opening the door. I find Mei standing in front of the mirror as she fixes the ribbon around her neck.

"Mmm, maybe I can sew on some golden stripes onto the bow…"

"I thought MT frowned upon uniform modifications."

"O-oh! Weiss, you surprised me! Where the hell were you?"

"Going for a run. Thought you would've seen the note on the counter. Needed to clear my head." I reply, closing the door behind me. "We have practicals today, so make sure you're ready."

"Right. By the way, you don't mind if I start calling you Weiss in class, right?"

"Do whatever you want."

"You suuuure? It's like," Mei continues as I start changing out of my running clothes and gather my towel. "Calling a person by their first name here means you're close or something, right?"

"But we are close. We're partners and I trust you with my life. And _yes_ I know what you mean. I don't mind. It'll keep people away, anyways."

"Hehehe. All right. Well, I'll take off. Don't be late to class, okay? Also, I cooked some breakfast for you, it's under the foil."

I nod before entering the bathroom. "Thanks. I'll see you in class then."

I turn on the shower, sticking a hand in. Warm. Looks like Mei already started the hot water for me by showering earlier.

I strip and step in, feeling the warm water falling upon my skin. I run my hands through my hair, flicking off the black strands that come off. Relaxing, isn't it… ha…

Shampoo. Soap. Rinse. I go through the motions and clean myself off. In ten minutes I'm done. I stop the water, dry myself off, and step out of the bathroom to go grab my clothes. In doesn't take even two minutes to slip it on.

Hm… what did Mei make for me?

I walk over to foil and take it off, finding a muffin and some bacon and eggs. I look over to the small kitchenette and find nothing there. Hm…

I walk over to the cabinets and crouch, opening them. Nothing seems disturbed… let me just run a finger along the pan… dried, but still some moisture. Looks like Mei washed them, too.

"Hmph. Don't take everything onto yourself." I say, closing the cabinet and standing up, finding a plastic fork and starting to eat the prepared breakfast on the disposable plate. The salted scrambled eggs go well with the bacon. The muffin was probably just bought somewhere, but the sentiment is appreciated.

I go over to the fridge and pull out the carton of orange juice I bought, unscrew the cap, pour myself a glass and chug it. I then rinse the glass and put the carton away, making sure to keep my discipline during these times of ease.

Well, I suppose it's time to get going to class. Suitcase… there we are. Time to go to class.

* * *

I open the door with ten minutes still left before class begins.

"Kazuma-san—"

"Weeeeiss!"

Reinhardt and Mei glance at each other as I close the door behind me.

"Was that planned? If so, please kindly never do that again." I say, walking to my seat. "So you're not both tripping over each other, Mei, go first."

"Lunch with me today?"

"Sure, assuming nothing more pressing comes up. Reinhardt-san, go."

"If we require an Operator for today's practical, may I ask for priority? You did volunteer to be our class' Operator."

"I did. I'd like to say yes, but if our teacher requests otherwise, then there is little I can do."

"I see. Well, I appreciate your consideration."

"Say though, have you heard the rumors? Class 1-B is getting a transfer student. Supposedly she's a Representative Pilot." Reinhardt says, not having gone back to her seat. There's a few students who give out calls, saying they heard such things too.

"Ah… so, that would leave us as… The only class without a pilot that has a personal unit then, correct?"

"That would be the case."

"I suppose we'll just have to close the gap via tactics and outsmarting our opponent. Superior and customized equipment doesn't necessarily mean victory."

"But for a customized and advanced unit to go up against a mass production unit, that's certainly going to make it difficult, right?" Reinhardt asks. I put a hand on my chin.

"I would say to use the terrain. But then the arena battles are held out in the open, so that's out of the question. Then the next best thing would be to research your opponent and develop a counter. However, the problem arises if you aren't experienced enough to utilize the counter correctly. You either fight at a disadvantage but in your strong suit, or at an advantage but without as much experience. Of course, your preference _does_ do well in open terrain."

"You mean my sniper rifle usage?"

"Yes. No cover. Little to no wind. The fact the temperature in the arena can be regulated. All of that makes your weapon more deadly. All you need is a way to keep your opponent where you want them. Damn, if Dunoa's company had only released those parts sooner, I might be able to come up with something."

"Did you have something in mind?"

"For all the IS units I have seen, they lack point defenses. While a NEXT _also_ lacks point defenses, it's sheer speed and size make it a nightmare for any infantry or smaller arms to fight it and Normals usually go with some amount of escort but again, their sheer size is nothing to sneeze at. But what I'm talking about isn't infantry—what I'm talking about is missiles. A missile swarm could be launched at an AC, but its shells were large enough from a machine gun that it could disable all of them midflight or use a Quickboost and throw off tracking easily. While you have small boosts with the IS, it's nothing in comparison."

"…So you wanted to use a missile swarm to force the enemy to focus on dodging or blocking the assault to open up a shot?"

"In short, yes. Preferably you would have multiple distractions as well." I close my eyes and think. "…the parts list. Does the Revive have shoulder weapons?"

"—It does. However, keep in mind it will affect her aim. While PIC will allow flight and hovering, there's still weight on her arms." I turn around and see Lisarene walking in. "For all of its advantages and allowing the whole unit flight, it doesn't eliminate weight from the equation."

"Ah, Lisarene. Thanks."

"MSAC International already released the IS-NEMAHA02. Vertical-firing chain missiles. Because of the IS system and reloading, you don't have to worry as much about the low ammo count you'd worry about on the AC. Pair it with the IS-061SKSN rockets, you've got a missile swarm followed by a smokescreen. Throw on thermal vision, take out your enemy." She answers while closing the door.

"Can't exactly just keep repeating that though, unless your sniper rifle takes the enemy out in one blow. While the IS doesn't have the sheer capability of the AC, IS pilots are far more unpredictable and have more versatility in their movements. It's easier to catch the AC in a loop for that strategy."

"There's the MP-IS207. Back weapon, ridiculous tracking. Even if you miss, the missiles reverse and come back. Of course, you'll have a high energy drain, so watch your shield's strength if you get hit. If your shields are lacking energy to power them, you're going to end up eating a lot of points to block an attack."

I nod, understanding the situation. Say your shield at normal energy levels can block 100 units. But when operating at reduced power, you require more shield points to block the same strength as the shield would be thinner. Using that weapon could give us an incredible attack advantage, but it would also leave us wide open.

"What if instead of using her own sniper rifle, you just put the sniper rifle on the back and let it fire on its own via targeting computer? Give her a standard rifle, one with decent range. Put pressure on her opponent by shooting them with a good firing rate, throw in a smokescreen, and then punish." Lisarene offers again, seeing as I suppose my facial expression gave away my hesitance to use such a setup.

"Reinhardt-san?" I say, looking at our pilot in question.

"We have some time to think about it, right? We can do some testing, too. This is… well, it's a little overwhelming, is all."

"Ah. Sorry about that."

"Don't worry, I'll try to grow into the role. It seems I need to catch up to the two of you. Also, I just heard this the other day, but it seems Orimura, despite losing, is now the class representative of Class 1-A."

"…I hope our class goes up against him, then."

"Alcott was a sniper though, wasn't she? Orimura closed the distance from what I heard." Lisarene adds on from the side.

"What's her unit's speed compared to a Revive?"

"Better, probably. Want me to get the footage? Someone probably recorded it on their phone. Or the Academy has it somewhere for review."

"Do you actually think you can get your hands on it, though?"

"Probably not. The phone footage, maybe. Want me to keep my ears open?"

"You're awfully forward about this."

Lisarene shrugs. "Hey, you heard what the class tourney that's coming up offers as a reward, right? I want part of that prize, I'm not going to leech, so I'll work for it."

"Hmph. Do as you please, but I didn't tell you to do anything specific."

"Smart."

As we're waiting for our teacher to arrive, the front door opens. Nomida and Meghan walk in, with Nomida making eye contact with me. The instant she does, she immediately seizes up for a moment before looking down and quickly making her way past my desk. Meghan gives me a suspicious look, but I shrug and she carries on.

I sense a questioning coming soon.

"Fooling around _again_ , Weiss?" Mei asks, nudging me, even though she knows damn well what this is about.

"Buzz off, it's not even like that!" I grumble, taking out my books. "And you're one to talk, considering the amount of times our superior caught you in someone else's bed."

"Hey, my sheets were thinner than most, okay?"

"Yeah, whatever gets you to sleep at night." I say with a snort, putting my books down.

Two minutes later, the door opens again.

"Alright class, sit down. Class is beginning. First, a reminder we'll be having practical lessons today. Kazuma-kun, I have something prepared for you. Instead of reporting to Arena 3's field, go to Arena 3 Gate 1's Operator station."

"Yes, sensei." I automatically reply, glancing at Reinhardt who gives a small shrug.

"Second, the class tournament is coming up. As you should know, your class representative Reinhardt will be fighting for you. The details have been sent out via email to your student accounts. While you aren't required to attend the battles, it would be in your best interest to witness those battles and maybe learn something from them. Before we begin, are there any pressing questions before we begin the lesson?"

Today is a lesson on PIC and its limitations, along with how thrusters work with PIC in order to move a unit. Alright… that gives me a better understanding how to equip Reinhardt's unit. The weight is very important, just like an AC, and counterweights will play a role in ensuring peak performance.

PIC does allow for hovering, though, by helping to reduce the amount of thrust needed to keep the unit in the air by some weird bullshit that I'm pretty sure doesn't make sense unless you're into some deep shit theoretical physics-wise. But then again it's not like I understand how AMS is exactly implemented, but at least I have a better clue about it than PIC.

"After lunch time, there will be a forty five minute break before you are expected to have finished changing out and should be on the field for exercises." Our teacher announces as the lecture ends. "Kazuma-kun, you already know your instructions."

"Yes, sensei." I say before she leaves with a nod.

"Seems my request won't be held." Reinhardt says as she reaches my desk.

"A shame. We'll have to set aside some time so I can get used to you."

"Used to me?" she asks, tilting her head in confusion. I decide not to acknowledge Mei's 'oh my' face in the background.

"The reason I can be Cayden's Operator very well. I know her well, I'm used to her patterns. What she'll think. What she's going to do. So given a situation I can give her the information she needs most without needing to think about it. And also point out when she's about to make a mistake she always makes."

"Ah, I see. Well, ah, we'll compare schedules after today, then."

"Of course. Now, I believe lunch awaits. We can't be wasting time for now." I say, rising from my seat.

I pick the lightest meal I can find. There's a simple noodle soup dish, nothing heavy, nothing too heavily spiced. I down it quickly without going too fast. Mei picked small tuna-salad sandwich, falling back into a light meal habit when given those orders.

We're out within the twenty minute mark.

"No time to waste." I say, walking down the hall.

"I'll be at the field, then."

"Understood."

* * *

" _Testing, testing. Kazuma-kun, can you hear me?"_

"I read you loud and clear, sensei."

" _Got it. ALRIGHT, LISTEN UP!"_ I flinch slightly at her suddenly raising her voice, probably talking to the students out there. _"Today we're going to be having a practical lesson about weighting your IS correctly. Normally you'll have a computer do this for you, but today we're doing it by hand and feel so you get an appreciation for the automatic balancing you have the luxury of._

" _There are four Revive units and two Uchigane Kai units out here. Each one has been randomly weighted. Seeing as we have twenty five minus one, it fits nicely to four of you to a unit. Each of you will pilot it and then try to weight the unit correctly with the help of your squad. At the end, we will have a time trial to see which of units was best weighted."_

"Sensei, what am I supposed to do?"

" _Ah, yes. Do you have any experience in this—no, of course you do."_

"Can confirm experience in correctly weighting AC units, sensei."

" _Good. If you require any pointers, you can contact Kazuma-kun. I expect you to not just give them an easy answer."_

"Understood, sensei."

" _Then… begin! Split up into groups of four and begin working!"_

I lean back in my seat and close my eyes, turning off my microphone while giving a sigh. Well, this is expected in a way.

" _Weeeeeeiss? Are you there?"_

I sit back up straight and check who's calling me. The bottom left of my screen reads "PRIVATE-3: RAPHAEL REVIVE – PILOT ID: MEI CAYDEN".

"This is Operator Kazuma. What do you need, Cayden?"

" _Just making sure communications are working. Oh, hey, so, I was thinking, what if I just mirror the weights?"_

"Mirror the—oh, I see. It could work. Although you may or may not be expected to have armaments when you take flight."

" _Right! Seeeeenseeeei!"_

"Turn off your radio if you're done talking to me, Cayden."

" _Oh, right. Ehehehe~"_

For the next half hour or so, I sit here and give small bits of advice, saying where I might put the counterweight. Slapping on a counterweight randomly doesn't work too much—no, you have to understand where it goes and if it can't fit in a space without being comfortable, then you have to say, move your original ten kilogram weight to two five kilogram weights that are placed in two different locations.

Mei and Reinhardt contact me sparingly. Hmm… cameras.

I flick a few buttons and check on who's grouped together. Mei is working by herself, or at least, she hasn't paired with anyone we both really know. Reinhardt has Lisarene's help, and Nomida and Meghan stuck together. Now that I know who's on which unit, might as well just bring up the status screen and check on the weights for everyone's units.

Heh, as expected, Mei's doing fine. Reinhardt and Lisarene along with their people are coming close, probably with Lisarene's guidance. Nomida and Meghan have taken the leadership of their group, although if when I tap into the microphone inputs, it seems more like Nomida had it forced on her.

Ha… still though, there's something in that girl. Despite having it forced on her, she continues on. Almost… like me, in a way.

She's already strong, with whatever's weighing down on her. To continue looking forward and marching on no matter what's been thrown on her. But if she doesn't have someone there, she'll break. I had Mei, my mentor, MT, the other pilots in _Hidden Hand_. I had people that when I was down in the mud, I could put my hand up and they'd pull me to my feet.

So tell me. So reach out. I've already made it apparent to this class that you can't win alone.

" _KAZUMA WEISS!"_

"MA'AM!"

" _It's_ _ **sensei!**_ _"_

"Yes, sensei?!"

" _No slacking off. Load up the flight pattern rings. The command is "load flight test pattern", use the one named with today's date._

Today… April, so 4, twenty third… 23, year 2026. Ah, "Pattern 4-23-2026", there we go.

" _Alright, listen up! All of you have had time to weight your units. Now we're going to see how evenly they fly. You all will have a chance to pilot, so don't worry. If you're currently in the unit, stay in there. We'll go one at a time. Kazuma-kun will monitor you and guide your course. Let's see… Unit One."_

I check Unit One. Ah, Nomida.

" _Y-yes?!"_ she cries out as I check the course and mentally plot out how I might fly through it in an AC.

" _Proceed to the starting line. Kazuma-kun, prepare to guide her."_

"Understood. Nomida-san, I'll be your Operator for this upcoming run. The course is simple enough."I say, looking over the course. "I'll set waypoints for you.

" _R... right."_

"You're the one responsible for flight. I'll let you know when you have sharp turns incoming or when you need to suddenly change your direction. Are you ready?"

" _Yes, I'm ready…"_ her voice trails off. I give a small scoff.

"Have a little pride in yourself. You're piloting here and now at an Academy that is viciously difficult to get in. You can do this. Now, I'm setting the 'ready' signal. Flash your acknowledgement light whenever you're ready."

Now just to make sure everything's set. I look down and see…

…Public channel. Oop.

" _Wooooo,_ damn _Weiss!"_

" _Language, Cayden. Nomida, thirty seconds after you flash your acknowledgement signal, I'll have you take off."_

I silently shift my voice output to her channel, but leave myself open to receiving from our teacher. "Ahem. Nomida-san, whenever you're ready. Sorry about that small outburst. But focus. The mission is simple. Get through all the rings as fast as possible in the order they're displayed. You know where they are. Now, at your ready."

Ten seconds later, her light flashes green.

I begin the countdown in my head.

…Soon, five seconds remain. Four. Three. Two. One.

" _Begin!"_

"Go!" I yell. "First leg's easy, build up speed and accelerate! Your unit has better acceleration than the Revive, but don't max out, there's a sharp left curve with a rise at the end. Prepare to rise!"

Wordlessly, she follows my instructions. She goes into the curve, slowing down and then speeding up as she comes out of it, increasing her altitude.

I glance at her weighting. It's all right, but the only problem is there's a distinct weight favor on the left side. Going into a right curve might throw her off.

"Drop incoming!"

At the end of the rise is a sudden drop. She prepares and follows through, turning downwards and shooting towards the ground.

"Slow down and get ready to pull up!"

I give the command as soon as she's at the point she needs to slow down to make the curve.

"Right curve incoming! Turn about a second sooner!"

As she goes into the curve, I notice her arc is a lot bigger. She's almost swinging in a way, as it's a full U-turn.

"Turn hard right and activate your forward thrust as if you were using a sword!"

Nomida was swinging out due to the weight distribution, so she would have missed the ring after the midpoint, but the sudden boost and turn cuts the curve short and has her shoot in almost a straight line through the last rings of the curve.

"Zigzag coming up, boost through the right turns, just curve normally through the left turns!"

It slightly worries me how quick she is to follow my instructions, but I suppose I've been guiding her this whole time so she's warmed up to it.

First turn's a left. She easily glides through it. Rotates. Boosts, carves a straight line to the next ring instead of turning right, almost drifting into it.

"Another drop!"

The next leg of the zigzag puts her on a downward slope while doing this, but it doesn't seem to faze her at all. As long as I keep telling her what's coming up, she moves through it without too much assistance.

…Hm. I'll guide her to the end.

After Nomida finishes, I end up doing this for everyone else. Times are fairly good. Mei, having the most balanced unit, only has the third best time. Reinhardt and another girl who I don't really know beat her out. Nomida ended up placing sixth best.

" _Good work, all of you. Now, you're free to go. Class is over for today. You're also free to stay here and practice though, however the units will be turned over at five in the afternoon."_

"Yes, sensei." I say, chiming in with everyone else. I switch the channel over to PRIVATE 0: TEACHER COMMUNICATION. "Sensei?"

" _Kazuma-kun?"_

"Can you ask Nomida-san to stay? There's something I want to check in her unit, something feels off." I say, looking at her time. Two minutes and fifteen seconds.

" _Hmph. Ask her yourself."_

"No mercy." I mutter, switching radio channels to the public one. "Nomida-san, are you there? If you are, please return to the unit you used, there's something I want to check with your weighting."

It takes about thirty seconds, but I see her pop up on my radio channels.

" _Y-yes?"_

"I want you to run through the course again."

" _Um…"_

"I won't give you any assistance this time, though."

" _K-kazuma-san…"_

"There's something I want to see. You don't have to go through with this if you don't want to."

" _It's fine,"_ she pauses. _"Um… what exactly do you want to see?"_

"I can't tell you that." I say, loading up the pattern again. "Whenever you're ready."

" _R… right."_

As soon as she takes off, I start timing her. Compared to her previous time…

Full thirty second difference.

" _I-I'm sorry, you already told me how exactly to do it and—"_

"You don't need to apologize."

" _I… I'll do it again!"_

"You don't need to do that. I just wanted to see something. Sorry to sound so harsh about that."

" _Right… right…"_

"Nomida-san?"

" _Sorry! I'll… I'll be going now."_

"Thank you for indulging me. Oh, also… there's a better path, you know, for the unit that you were the main decider of the weights on."

With that, I cut off communications and don't respond, making it appear as if I'm not there. Now, let's see what you do…

* * *

 _ **Armored Hearts**_

* * *

 _Another path…?_

For a while, Taigei Nomida stood still. Why had he not given her the better path, then?

But when watching all the others, everyone else had followed his instructions, and none of their paths really differed.

So what better path was there?

She looked around the arena. Yes, it had quickly emptied out. There was no one else here.

 _Surely, Kazuma-san has left._

Yes, there would be no one to witness her movements.

And so she began. Testing, flying, trying to find the path that Weiss hadn't given her but knew about.

 _Where can it be?_

Surely, if he had said it was there, then it existed.

Meanwhile, Weiss watched from his station, hand on his chin.

 _There is definitely a faster way. But only with your unit could you use it. That unique weighting is what opens up the path for you. And so, you must find it._

 _But the question is… will you?_

Another attempt. Two minutes, thirty seconds. Another run with a minor tweak. Two minutes, twenty seven seconds. Another run. Two minutes, thirty three seconds.

 _Where is it?!_

What was she doing wrong? Why couldn't she find it? Why wasn't anything making sense? Was he lying? But lying didn't seem like something he'd do, or at least, not about this sort of thing.

 _Where could it be?!_

Was it the first curve? Was it the acceleration? Was she not going fast enough into the turn? Was it her reaction time? But he said it had been a path, so that meant it wasn't something she was doing, it was something she wasn't doing that she hadn't yet done.

After the twentieth try, she began to question why she was even doing this.

Why was she listening to that voice that told her she had to find that path? Why did she continue to force herself despite the fact it hurt her at every turn? And why did she keep throwing herself at the problem?

"I don't… want to do this…" she said as she fell onto her knees, tears starting to well up in her eyes. Her hands, clad in the iron armor of the Uchigane Kai, clenched into fists as she took a breath and stood up. "But I have to…"

 _Have to?_ Weiss thought, his interests piqued.

"…I can't let them down. I… I have to be better. I'll find it."

With her determination now steeling her resolve, she kept flying.

"You'll break like that." Weiss muttered as he continued to watch her on the cameras.

Another thirty minutes passed. No progress. Her once fueled determination buckled as she finished another run, not coming close to a substantial leap in time.

"I can't do it…"

"You mean you can't do it alone." Weiss said, his voice suddenly crackling over her radio.

"K-Kazuma-s-san?!"

"It's interesting, you know, how you thought that just because I said something, it must be true."

"That's not it!"

"Then please explain to me why you have been throwing yourself at this course for the last hour or so." Weiss replied nonchalantly, his words cutting through to her very core.

"…it was because you said it…"

Weiss easily read the pause. "Go on."

"…and I thought that if you said that, it would be true."

"So if our teacher had said there was a faster way, you might believe her?"

"Yes."

"If Yosuka-san who sits in seat number nine had said that, would you have believed her? Renolds-san, in seat twenty one?"

Silence.

"I'm taking that as a yes. Nomida-san, name one person in our class you wouldn't have believed."

More silence.

"Do you believe yourself that there is a better path?"

The silence hung in the air for ten seconds.

"…es."

"Couldn't hear you."

"Yes." The whispered reply came.

"I don't believe you."

"Yes!"

"Is there a better path?"

"There is a better path!"

"Good. Find it, if you believe it. If you come to believe that there is no better path, there is no shame in leaving."

With that, Weiss' communication cut off again. She looked up to where he would be sitting and stared for a while, wondering what moved him to do this. But… there had to be a path forward.

Something in her felt freer. Stronger. Better. Her head had a strange clarity to it.

Ten minutes went by as she continue to try to find it.

 _This curve… I knew the weight was off, but my group was sure it was fine, so I flew with it. Kazuma-san definitely knew that too and told me how to do this curve. It's the one thing I haven't changed._

As she was about to hit the curve, she flew towards the inside of the rings before turning her acceleration up to the max, turning to the right, as if she was drifting in the inside lane. As if she was on a sling of sorts, she overturned in order to pass through with as much speed as she could, but still pushed herself through all of the rings by compensating for almost exiting the arc.

The rest of the course was nothing. When she finished…

Two minutes, seven seconds.

"I did it." She whispered to herself. And with that admission, the rings faded from her display. "…Are you still watching…?"

Nothing came over on the radio.

"Then, even if you're not listening… thank you."

 _Perhaps I should thank you to you. You've confirmed something for me._ Weiss thought to himself as he logged out of the system. _That you're already strong. All you need is to learn you believe in yourself._

 _Hmph. Even though I'm trying to keep my distance… there's just things I can't ignore. Goddammit, I really a soft-hearted bastard at heart…_

 _But honestly, if you insist on keeping with the IS, your mentality has to change. Someone like you would turn to dust on the battlefield before you could even lift a finger. Unless they did something, that one thing that you would never surrender on, in which case you would become Death itself._

… _let's hope it doesn't have to come to that. I will make sure of it myself. You came to me to get stronger, didn't you? While I can't do that, I can help you to know yourself. Knowing the enemy is the Operator's job. Knowing yourself is yours. Once you do that, you can find victory._

* * *

 ** _Armored Hearts_**

* * *

"Long day?" Mei asks as I walk over to her in the cafeteria.

"Buzz off." I mutter, putting down my plate filled with fries and a burger and a small bottle of soda on the table.

"Yeeesh, not even a salad? You really must be tired. What were you up to?"

"Just setting my screens up on those terminals. They save settings for Operators, so I was making sure I had an optimal screen setup."

"Uhhuh. I bet you were just busy seducing Nomida-san. All alone in the arena. Or maybe you were both sprawled on top of the keyboards. How naughty."

"That wasn't it." I say, elbowing her hard.

"Ow! Geez… you know when you react like that, it just makes me more suspicious."

"…Whatever. Either way, I'll have to meet with Reinhardt later to talk about scheduling, seeing as I now have to juggle school, you, and her, all at the same time." I say before munching on the seasoned fries. "So much to do, really."

"Heh. Well, don't put it all on yourself, then. I'll help out too." Mei replies, leaning up on me and encasing my left arm with her right arm.

"I can see you trying to take my fries, but I appreciate the sentiment."

Mei, with zero shame, takes two of my fries and eats them. "You're very welcome. Now, I'll help polish those off for you."

"Dammit, Cayden."

"You weren't going to finish them anyways. You just got sloppy because you were tired." She teases, shamelessly eating my fries. "Say, the weekend is coming up soon. Do you want to go shopping for some ingredients so we can cook on our own?"

"I wouldn't mind. After Saturday classes?"

"Mhm."

"If nothing comes up, then very well."

After that, the two of us head back to our room, where the two of us hit the books. It's fairly quiet save for the occasional question and the constant scratching of pencil on paper.

…this is a little nice. Reminds me of filling out paperwork, but less tedious. So this is what being a student is really like, hm…

 _Kchkchkch!_

My head snaps up from the textbook I was reading at the sound of the door being knocked on. I glance at Mei, who nods and gets up, retreating over to behind the corner where she'll be out of sight, and I stand up and go over to the door. Lisarene…? What's in that messenger bag she's got…?

I carefully open the door, with the punk-ish girl in question grinning as she holds up a flash drive.

"Got 'em."

"Hm?"

"The video footage of Orimura and Alcott's fight. Wanna watch it?"

"Come in." I say, fully opening the door and gesturing for her to step in, and I can hear Mei move away from the corner ever so slightly. She marches in before I close the door behind her. "Let me get my computer booted up."

"No need, I have my laptop. I just have a copy for you." She replies, putting the drive on my desk before plopping herself down on my bed and pulling her laptop out of her bag. Her slender fingers run across the keys, probably typing a stupidly long password, before she pats my bed. "Sit."

I decide to ignore Mei's snickering while she seats herself back at her desk as I walk over to my bed, putting myself down next to Lisarene.

"Alright, I'll go over the important parts. First, let's go through Alcott's unit. Named Blue Tears, anti-mass-infantry and support unit. Made for taking on multiple hostiles at once." She then presses the 'skip to next scene' button (I'm guessing she configured that herself), pulling up a still frame of Alcott holding a massive rifle. "Main armament is a high energy laser sniper rifle. Can't determine its firing rate exactly, but looks like she can pop a shot roughly once every two-three-ish seconds. Nasty with every hit."

"Hm."

She presses the skip button again. This time the still frame has four small blue rectangular objects floating near Alcott. "Drone units, from what I could tell. The phone's camera is shit. Take my word for it, but every time she uses them, she stops moving."

"Must be diverting power to controlling all four units."

"Heh, that's what I thought. Its power output doesn't match an AC at all. Now, the final armament is two rocket launchers around her skirt armor. Fairly decent amount of power, but very weak tracking." She skips ahead and presses 'play', showing footage of the launched rockets tracking Orimura's flying. "His arc was too wide, so they still managed to track him. Had he maintained a sharper curve, it's likely he would've thrown them off."

"I see."

"Decent speed all around. Her unit is fairly light. Shields are rather high for a lightweight unit, though. Probably to deal with the lack of movement when using those laser drones. Orimura's unit is simpler. Just a sword, but there's a catch."

Another skip scene. This time, Orimura's sword looks different. It's as if it's been split in half, with a blue laser blade coming out from the handle. That is…

"From what I heard, it's similar to his older sister's energy blade. A very high energy blade that can pierce an IS' shields if not enough power is brought to them, effectively forcing a mass shield drain."

"Powerful in the right hands. In the wrong hands it becomes suicidal to use."

"The same could be said for blades in an AC, eh?" she asks, closing her laptop and putting it back in her bag.

I give a small snort. "Find anything else?"

She talks while putting her bag around her shoulder. "I'll have to look into the other classes to find out."

"Where the hell did you get this though, and how much do I owe you?"

"Nothing if you give me one of your shirts."

"What."

She shrugs. "I promised the girl who I got the phone footage from one of your shirts."

"Dammit, don't go making deals about my crap like that—" I mutter, opening my drawer.

"—Ah, used, preferably."

I give her a "you have got to be kidding me" look, with Lisarene giving another nonchalant shrug. With a sigh, I go over to my hamper where I stored used clothes, pull out the shirt I had run in this morning, and toss it to her. She nods in a sagelike manner.

"This will do."

"It better damn well do." I grumble, walking over to see her out. "…thanks for the footage though."

"I'll hand you a report or something tomorrow."

"You're awfully forward about this."

"Hey, I want those dessert coupons. As much as I'd _love_ to drown myself in the soft, creamy, vanilla ice cream with hot fudge and all sorts of exquisite things that make that thousand dollar sundae in New York seem like crap, it's expensive as hell."

"It can't cost a thousand dollars though, right?"

"Well, if you're a student, it might as well cost that damn much. Anyways, gotta deliver this as part of the exchange and then go buzz off to sleep. It's been a _long_ day. You better win those coupons, you hear me?"

"Yeah, yeah." I mutter, closing the door behind her. "…isn't Reinhardt piloting? Why the hell does it fall on _me_ to get those coupons?"

"Because you'll guide her to victory, obviously, Mister 'An Operator and Pilot Work Hand in Hand'. You just happen to be a little more in the spotlight due to the fact everyone's been looking up to you. Save for a few of them, but that's really to be expected." Mei answers from her desk.

"Tch. So much for just blending in."

"Is it really so bad?"

"No, but… it's just a little unexpected."

"Then… Kazuma Weiss!"

At the usage of my full name, I snap up to attention.

"As your former pilot, I order you to bring our class to victory!"

"Yes, ma'am!"

"And then you'll hand all your share of the dessert coupons to me!"

"Hell no!"

Mei begins giggling as I loosen myself. "There. Now it's expected as you've been given orders, right?"

"Hah. Well, I suppose so. Very well, upon my received orders, I , Kazuma Weiss, will guide our class to victory."

Well, what sort of things have I gotten wrapped up into _this_ time…

* * *

 **WEW**

 **Okay, done!**

 **I hoped that some more characterizations got mapped out in this one. I also wanted to start setting up some of the character subplots. Taigei/Nomida's quest to get "stronger" and her dynamic with Weiss, who she sees as strong, along with Mei. Mei and Weiss' dynamic of accustoming to normal life is something I'd like to stretch out, though. And with Reinhardt, her story in growing to the leadership position which ties into the military legacy she has.**

 **Meghan and Lisarene's plotlines are ones I'd like to save for later, so I plan to introduce the plot threads for their lines later. Anyways, let's go over the scenes.**

 **Mei and Weiss dueling was just me highlighting what Near Manual Mode looked like, plus Weiss being able to use the rifle again. It also gave me a nice transition into Reinhardt and Nomida watching him. I tried to include narration that indicated that their reasons for watching him aren't romantic, but because of something else that pulls them towards him.**

 **I also started the AC-IS bridge with Dunoa in this chapter, mainly because it'll let me play around a little more. And bring back that corporation feel from AC4 XD**

 **Got to have a few moments with Reinhardt where she and Weiss get to chat a bit over military stuff plus reveal some life details, nothing much.**

 **The main meat of this chapter came from the practical scene though, which took me a while to get "right" when I actually was able to write. Nomida suffers from a lack of self confidence and really relies on someone she thinks knows the truth to push her along, or so was revealed at the time with Weiss pressuring her about "if 'x' said it, would you believe it?" Weiss ends up pushing her into affirming to herself that "a better path does exist". It also reveals a problem with Nomida that she keeps pushing herself for as of yet unknown reason, even past the point of breaking herself. Which is why Weiss slightly complains about her mentality, but says he's going to change it.**

 **Lisarene showing up with the Blue Tears footage was also another characterizing point. So far I think I've had some success at keeping her a little mysterious and keeping her things 'behind the scenes', which makes her a little suspicious if you ask me. But it's what I want to aim for, hehe.**

 **Anyways, sorry this took so long to get up. College slaughtered me, like, damn, can't believe I still have As. Blegh.**

 **Let me know what you think! I might have some more time in the summer (HAHAHAHA I SAID THAT LAST SUMMER TOO HUH), but I don't know. I'm actually working this summer too, so haha, oh well. We'll see how it goes (betcha I said that later year too).**

 **But damn, I'd at least like to update this more than ONCE EVERY THREE MONTHS. Oh well. Seeya guys next chapter. Whenever that is, hahahaha…**


	5. Sniper's Heart

**Wow gg it took me forever to get this out. Ahaha "Have time during the summer" rip me because internship. I actually got this out though wow, ugh, like damn jobs leave you no time to write. Either way wow, had a little bit of fun with this chapter, I'll keep getting to it when I can, but I had another project also take my attention.**

 **Either way, thank you for your patience. I didn't really have a set schedule for this one, but I really did want to update it in a semi-timely fashion.**

 **Anyways, REVIEW REPLY TIME, GOOOOO!**

 **Kerlongsj Evert Orlejov:** _Holy crap it's been 5 months since I touched this I just realized that when looking at your review date._ Anyways, I guess I'll try not to go to deep into AC terminology unless the characters are explaining it. I think it with the mix of characters that I have (some completely unfamiliar with AC to those who are extremely familiar) it does give me a good reason to have those things explained. As for not playing it, don't worry about, I think that is also my job as an author is to convey the ideas in the games text-wise so that an unacquainted reader can understand. Here's hoping I can do that, and thanks for reading!

 **Grinja:** I'd like to include more of the OG IS characters as well, though I think I might shelve it for later. Of course, when I want to draw the parallels/differences between Weiss and Ichika, they obviously need to see eachother for that sort of thing. It's a double edged sword, putting them in different classes. On one hand, it allows me to separate them out and prevent too much overlap, but on the other hand it makes it difficult to really have them interact a lot. I'll see if I can figure something out, haha. Thanks for reviewing!

 **Thunder Dragon:** I'll see if I can spare some time, but man I can understand why a lot of people I used to read just dropped off the face of the earth. College is the number one murderer of free time (as are internships and while I love where I worked aaaaaaa rip free time DX)

 **With that out of the way, here goes!**

* * *

 **Chapter 5:** Sniper's Heart

* * *

"Reinhardt!" I yell down the hallway, catching the girl's attention.

"K-Kazuma-san?!" she asks, rather startled before coughing and regaining her composure while I march down the hall. "Did you need something?"

"I thought I'd let you know that I've shifted my schedule around, so I'll be open to train you and also learn about your habits in combat. It's why Mei and I are effective as a team."

"A-ah, yes."

"So, I'll be getting used to you. Your movements, your habits, anything that might interfere with your combat ability."

"You um…" Reinhardt pauses, crossing her arms. "…That almost sounds a bit like stalking."

"…why yes, yes it does. My apologies, I didn't mean for it to come off like that. Anyways, please come to Arena Three, Gate One after class today. There's something I'd like to show you."

That something is a small lesson of sorts, as Reinhardt is dressed in her IS Academy standard pilot uniform. Just like Mei, it _really_ highlights her body type, which makes me question the actual need for the tightsuits. Seriously, AMS doesn't require a suit like this. Why not just base the read from the pilot's neural system in a manner like AMS? Why do you even need the damn tightsuit that is showing off her rather generous C (I'm being generous in the conservative sense) size? Honestly, these suits are better off for fetish wear!

"Um… w-why am I here?" Nomida asks from the side, dressed in her own tightsuit. I'd estimate her to be about an A in that suit.

"You're a blader, correct?" I ask, gesturing Reinhardt to come closer. "Tell me Nomida, what is your greatest enemy in a match?"

"I'm not sure…"

"Just give me anything. First thing that comes to your mind."

"Then… an enemy I can't hit?"

"On the right track. An enemy you can't hit and keeps distance from you while still hitting you. Seeing as you have very little in the ranged category, that is your greatest threat. Punish from a very long distance and keep away—isn't that a sniper?"

"Right!"

"And it just so happens we have our own sniper here. So, by teaching Reinhardt a bit more in the ways of sniping, you will learn how one of your more feared enemies operate and thus be able to counter that."

"Question, Kazuma-san."

"Speak your mind, Reinhardt."

"Why aren't we in the IS units yet?"

"Because that's a little too easy. Now, the weapon cases are out, though—so Reinhardt, grab the sniper rifle of your choosing and set yourself up on the edge of the launching platform, right by the sniper kit. Nomida, pay attention."

"Understood, Kazuma-san."

"Y-yes!"

I watch as Reinhardt grabs the anti-material rifle she had before and heaves it up before moving as quickly as she can over to the edge, where she sets up. In less than a minute she's prone, legs slightly spread, pointing the weapon down onto the arena's grounds.

"Good, good." I say, walking over to her, taking out some binoculars and looking down the range. "Nomida, take a pair of binoculars as well. This is the kind of opponent you're going to be up against."

She quietly does so, coming up the two of us.

"Reinhardt, for this mission, plastic is civilians, metal is hostiles. Am I understood?"

"Understood, sir." She cracks back immediately.

"Excellent. We're facing due east for directional bearing. Tell me when you're set."

"…I'm set, sir."

"Alright. First target is three hundred meters eight degrees south of east."

I look down the sightlines as well, where my set up of several plastic bottles are scattered and a single metal can is in the middle of it.

"I can see the hostile, sir."

"Same. Wind is basically nothing. Normal atmospheric pressure. Temperature's seventy three degrees Fahrenheit.. Give me a second… confirmed that is the target. Whenever you're ready, take the shot."

I can hear a sharp inhale from Reinhardt before there's a hanging, oppressive silence in the air for a good three seconds. And then—

 _CRRRRRCK!_

The can on the other end explodes, thrown into the air by Reinhardt's shot. Nomida lets out a small 'eep' of surprise, being startled by the sudden noise.

"This is the type of opponent you'll be up against. The one that you'd have the most trouble with, unless you can close the distance. Do you see what kind of advantage the IS offers you now?"

"M-mhm."

"Of course, as you saw in the earlier battle, if you can close the distance, the power of the rifle becomes a lot less potent due to lack of aiming time. Sniper rifles are powerful, but require time and skill to use effectively. Reinhardt, next target. Reset your direction. Our new target is three hundred seventeen meters eleven degrees north of east."

About a second passes.

"I have the target, sir."

"Fire when ready. Same conditions as before."

 _CRHRCKCK!_

The metal can explodes into dust once again.

"You are surprisingly good at this."

"Ah, well, dad used to take me hunting all the time."

"Hunting's a lot different than military grade weaponry, though."

"I enrolled in a class for this, during summer vacations back home."

"Hm. Anyways, reset position. New target."

"Understood, sir."

After about six more shots, I tell Reinhardt "Mission accomplished" and stand up. I help Nomida and Reinhardt to their feet.

"So, what was the point of this exercise?" Reinhardt asks, stretching her legs.

"To one, get a feel for your sniping skill so I can help you improve, and two, to hammer into _you_ —" I say, pointing at Nomida. "—what type you should be most fearful of. The counter of course, is to close the distance and prevent her from having the time to get a clear shot. Speaking of which, where the hell did you learn to parry with a fuc—damn sniper rifle?"

Reinhardt smiles. "My teacher recommended me to another person who taught me."

"Can't say specifics?"

"I can't."

"Damn, would've liked to meet this person." I mutter, thinking through it. Most likely an IS pilot. Must've been off the radar too, something unofficial since there wasn't anything like that in her dossier. "Now then, let's do an exercise. Reinhardt, you're good at hitting stationary targets, sure, but that's not going to save you in a match. Nomida-san, please get into the unit of your choosing. You'll head out."

"Am… am I going to be dodging?"

"Very intuitive of you. Yes."

"Are you going to help me?"

"Slightly. I'll explain more once you head onto the field. Reinhardt, get back to your sniping perch. I'll head up to the operator booth. Nomida-san, tell me when you're out on the field. Go to the other end."

Nomida heads over while I climb up into the Op Room, crossing the field before radioing in.

"Alright," I say, adjusting the headset and checking on the frequencies. "Reinhardt, it's obvious you're not going to have a spotter in the middle of a match. However, there is something you need to consider. Let's see if you figure it out." I switch channels, talking only to Nomida. "Now Nomida, I won't tell you where she's aiming, but I'll feed you camera data."

" _A-and?"_

"Use that to adjust your positioning and approach. There's something I want you and Reinhardt to figure out in this battle. If you do, kudos to you. Now, prepare for the operation to begin. Your mission is simple—clear the field and draw the sniper's fire."

" _R-right!"_

I start by hooking up a camera feed relay to Nomida, making sure everyone is set.

"Alright Reinhardt, you may begin five seconds after Nomida-san begins moving. Nomida-san, whenever you're ready."

I see Nomida take off and start trying to dodge. I watch the damage values. On direct hits, her shields go down a decent amount. _But_ , and I'm sure it's by accident, there are incidents where Nomida turns just in time and the bullet hits off at an angle when smacking the shield.

Of course, I don't know if Reinhardt is noticing either. But it's all about the angle… the angle of approach. I suppose that this will be a good lesson.

"Want me to get ready?" Mei asks from behind me, having been waiting in the Operator booth the whole time.

"Ready up, Mei."

"Yes, sir."

* * *

"Alright, so seeing as you two didn't quite get it, I've brought Mei here as a helper for this exercise." I say from up in the Operator booth. "Reinhardt, if you please, empty three full magazines into Mei's shields head-on."

" _W-what?!"_

" _You heard him, Reinhardt-san. It's okay, I won't flinch."_

" _R… right."_

The oddity of the command must've taken her by surprise, but she does it anyways. Mei doesn't flinch at all and I watch her shields go down. We're using small-scale weapons, so nothing incredibly punishing like the sniper rifle.

One hundred eighty shield points. Not bad.

"Alright, Reinhardt, Mei, get ready for flight. Reinhardt, you have five minutes to try to deal the same amount of damage. Mei will be using the same radial shield configuration."

"W-what about me?"

"I want you to watch, Nomida-san." I say to the girl who's next to me in the booth. "And tell me if you notice something."

"R… right."

With that, I turn back to my controls. "Mei, take flight. Reinhardt, thirty seconds after she does so, you are free to engage. Understood, both of you?"

" _Yessssir!"_

" _Understood, Kazuma-san."_

I sit here and watch and Reinhardt eventually moves to open fire. Mei of course, tries to dodge, but Reinhardt is a good shooter. I note that on her status readout, there isn't too much power going into her targeting system. A lot of it is by feel, simply _augmented_ by her unit.

I told Mei not to dodge every bullet, being a confederate of mine. She's strategically positioning herself so that the bullets that do hit her shield are coming off at an angle—that is to say, they aren't striking head on.

Thus, every one of her hits isn't a direct hit, losing damage value. This was one of the most important lessons I learned in a Normal—how to make every shot count against other Normals. When you can't just blow up your target with explosives, you have to learn how to punch holes in them. And the easiest way to do that is get a perpendicular hit.

"She's…"

"She's?"

"Reinhardt-san… isn't dealing as much damage."

"Can you tell me why that is?"

"Mmgh…"

"Tell me whatever comes to mind."

"It's not just because she's dodging some shots." Nomida says, shaking her head. "It's… there's something else."

"Three points."

"O-o-out of h… how many?!"

"Keep observing."

I wait until the five minutes are up before radioing in. "Alright, both of you, stop fighting. Reinhardt, you managed to deal three fifths of the damage when you were firing straight into Cayden. Not bad."

"… _I don't feel good about that."_

"Now, Nomida was on the right track, but can you think about why that is? Don't tell me though. Now, Nomida-san, please put on an IS again and meet them on the field. Both of you will now be on the other end—Cayden will be firing at you."

I can hear Nomida gulp behind me, but with one look at her she immediately skips out the door. I watch her hastily put on the IS, confirm its settings, and fly out to meet up with Reinhardt.

Switching to a private channel with Mei, I start talking. "Hey Cayden."

" _Hm, what is it?"_

"No mercy."

" _Just how I planned."_

* * *

 _ **Armored Hearts**_

* * *

 _Tch!_ Reinhardt mentally grumbled as she tried dodging again, but as she moved to dodge the first burst, she was met by a second. She was trying to use timing in order to dodge it along with using Cayden's blind spots to present less of a target, but it was futile.

Of course, with Weiss guiding Cayden to where she was supposed to shoot as if he was piloting the machine himself, such a window wouldn't open for her.

On the other hand, Nomida didn't seem to be having any more success on her end. But after analyzing the damage values, she had taken far less damage than Reinhardt.

At first glance, this wouldn't make sense. Nomida's unit, an Uchigane Kai, did not have as much handling power as Reinhardt's Revive. She shouldn't be able to dodge as well, only boost past Cayden's shooting. But that advantage was nullified by Cayden's quick adjustments to where she shot. And she had shot at the two of them fairly equally.

However, Nomida had a gut feeling to Weiss' words. While she hadn't yet processed what he meant, she remembered seeing what Cayden had done while she watched. In addition, Weiss had highlighted that she had dealt less damage too, but Cayden hadn't gone out of her way to dodge every projectile. Not to mention that with the speed of the sniper rifle shots and the distance between them, it'd take stupidly good reflexes to notice where she was aiming _and_ dodge.

Meanwhile, Weiss was watching from the operator's desk, a crude and vicious smile on his face as he watched the vectors on screen.

 _Yes… Nomida, you're a quick learner. Now if only you can make the connection…_

Nomida didn't know exactly what she was doing, but Weiss did. It was all in the angle. Nomida couldn't dodge every single shot, but she could position herself to where a small movement would prevent a full perpendicular hit.

 _Although I have to say, I expected Reinhardt to put the pieces together faster._

As Weiss continued to watch in earnest, Reinhardt was annoyed at herself, She could see the damage values and the gap between her and Nomida was quickly increasing. Rather than the gap though, she was more annoyed that she couldn't figure out what she was doing wrong.

"Reinhardt-san, don't get distracted now!"

"Cheh…!" she growled as Cayden fired down on her again.

"Reinhardt-san!" Nomida's voice cried out over the radio on a private channel straight to Reinhardt.

"Nomida-san?!"

"I… I don't know exactly what I'm doing, but Kazuma-san mentioned you only did three-fifths the damage when you fired straight into Cayden and I think whatever she was doing was reducing damage, well, I'm trying to do it now and I can't say exactly what it is but I'm not dodging every shot an—"

The keywords in that sentence immediately went for processing in Reinhardt's mind. She closed her eyes and thought about it. She had been watching Nomida too, and she quickly compared what she had seen the swordswoman do that the gunner blasting her right now had did.

But something was missing.

 **Three fifths. Straight. Reducing damage. Not dodging every shot.**

 _Straight, reducing da—_

The pieces clicked together.

"Nomida-san, I've figured it out."

"R-reinhardt-san?"

"It's the angle of approach! Don't try to dodge everything, but with radial shielding you can make so she doesn't get a dead-on hit!" With a single mental command, Reinhardt's display visualized the shield around her. "Gah, I can't believe I didn't figure it out sooner!"

"T-thank you!"

Yes, if Nomida operated on instinct, then Reinhardt was the brains. Every single shot she took when sniping was calculated—the wind, the bullet drop, the movement of her target, all of that and more went through her mind in a fraction of a second before her finger even pulled the trigger. She had already learned this lesson before, that bullets could bounce and ricochet, but she hadn't quite made the connection to IS shields. In addition, her training had not been against armored units—so something such as a hard shield that could deflect and ricochet bullets had not been ingrained into her.

As Cayden let loose another barrage, Reinhardt shifted herself over to the right. The bullets hit the radial shield at an angle, depriving them of their normal penetrating power and lessening the burden on the shield.

"Heh, looks like they learn quick, don't they?" Mei asked over the private comm to Weiss. "That one clearly wasn't an accident."

"Well, they were bound to learn it sooner or later."

"Hyaaaah!" Mei shouted as she turned her sightlines over to Nomida. Pulling the trigger, a stream of bullets flew forward. While she didn't have the handling of the Revive, she could dodge the bullets with a sudden burst of speed long enough to get herself into a position where the remaining ones would hit at an angle, preventing a direct, perpendicular hit.

 _Heh, don't get full of yourselves just yet. This is just the basics of how to survive the battlefield._

Of course, Weiss couldn't help but give a grin that might be described as 'feral' from an onlooker as he watched the two slowly get more and more acquainted with how to deal with bullet weapons. Even if they were only just learning, they were learning _quickly_ which was more than enough for him.

… _after all, we have yet to test if you have the strength to pull the trigger against a real person._ _Because here, battles end when you run out of shield points. But out there… that's when the_ _ **real**_ _battle begins._

* * *

 _ **Armored Hearts**_

* * *

"You did good for today. I see you two have begun to understand that against bullet weapons, radial shielding with the proper positioning can help mitigate the damage you take. Of course, this entire exercise is useless against missiles and laser-type weapons. Missiles you can dodge and use flares or shoot them down if you're fast enough. Laser type weapons generally have heat as a limiting factor and if you can mess up a lock-on or otherwise make them waste a shot, you open up windows to attack."

"Then why did we cover this, Kazuma-san?"

"I'm glad you asked, Reinhardt-san. Firstly, I would like to remind you that I said I would not teach you how to win IS matches, but how to survive on the battlefield.

"Now, out of missiles, laser weapons, and guns, the last of those are the easiest to produce en masse. Missiles would be the most effective if it wasn't for the fact the Infinite Stratos does not fly like a conventional target and has far more options for dodging. Laser weapons are costly and have a much higher maintenance cost associated with them and are more delicate instruments. See the fact Orimura was able to destroy Alcott's BIT units—a gun drone is far easier to replace than a laser drone. A regular bullet firing gun is the most replaceable and easiest to maintain."

"W… what about melee?"

"Ah, yes." I say, turning towards our resident swordswoman, Nomida. "Because guns are no longer able to instantly kill the enemy, the sword becomes a viable strategy. If you give your opponent little room to wriggle and force them into melee combat, additional combatants may be able to support you. They are also cheaper to produce, easier to maintain than even a gun, and come standard in military training. Well, not necessarily swords, but you get where I'm coming from. They're powerful if you can get in range. Granted, you should at least familiarize yourself with another weapon, Nomida-san."

"Eh?"

"If your opponent has a weapon made for short-range combat, you'll be at a disadvantage. Against Reinhardt-san, you'd have the advantage. But say you were fighting a pilot with a shotgun or a submachine gun. You would be getting dangerously into their most effective range and possibly giving up your advantage. And you won't always have support, so you'll either have to be really good at judging when to make your attack or force the enemy out."

"A-ah…" she nods, understanding. I'm telling her that relying only on the sword would get her killed in a real fight if the enemy was prepared for it. "So like how Reinhardt-san can fall back on her fists or her pistol and Cayden-san knows how to use a knife."

"Exactly. You pick up on it quickly."

"Um… what about Orimura Chifuyu?"

"There are exceptions to the rules, Nomida-san. Orimura Chifuyu is a far different target and plays a high risk high reward game with her famed weapon. From what I understood, her unit was made specifically for ending a target as fast as possible. All offense, no defense. However, the offense provides a defense—you have to close the distance as fast as possible, but that also means you can dodge attacks by sheer speed. The strength also comes from forcing your opponent to play defensively. Having an instant trump card means they have to be wary."

"I see…"

"Back to our previous subject, you can probably ask either one of them on help with a gun."

"U-um, Kazuma-san, could you help me with the gun?!"

I bite my lip and give a glance at Mei, who only smiles. Damn, this girl is like a lost puppy.

"Reinhardt-san, how much experience in fi—"

"I focused a lot of longer range weapons. I couldn't help her with anything medium to short range except a sidearm."

And Mei knows a bit about guns but she wasn't a heavy combatant. She focuses mainly on sub-machine guns and other shorter on the medium end of things. At the very least she should be trained with pistols but giving her a rifle might not be a bad choice. Only problem is rifles would take a while to swap out for the sword.

Well, I guess pistols might not be a bad idea.

"Reinhardt, you're familiar with sidearms at least as you just said, right?"

"Mhm."

"Teach Nomida-san about using a pistol. The basics, at the very least. I can handle the more nitpicky parts, but it's more important you do this, along with Cayden."

"Why?" All three ask.

"While in the field an IS pilot will likely be operating alone, I want you all to have experience synergizing with each other. It is a possibility you will be fielded together and team operations at IS Academy should be anticipated. In addition, you should be ready to pilot with others. Solo operatives are extremely rare and are the exception, not the rule. As Nomida learns about using a pistol, you two can learn to adapt to how she uses it, and she can adapt to you. Besides, you shouldn't constantly rely on me, shouldn't you?"

Nomida doesn't really have much of an option to say anything other than an affirmative nod.

"Reinhardt, start off small. Take her to use infantry-scale guns first."

"Don't skip straight to the IS, though? She's not normally going to use a sidearm outside the unit and IS helps with the recoil, right?"

I gesture for Reinhardt to come forward and I whisper to her as she leans in.

"She should know how it is to fire a gun at a target. It's one thing when you're in the machine. But it's another thing when it's _your_ hand pulling the trigger."

She nods.

"I see."

"Teach her that well, okay?"

"I don't know how well I can, so I'll probably leave that in your hands." She says, walking back to the others.

"Then at least teach her the basics. Three days from now, I want her able to tell me how to maintain a sidearm of her choosing. Her aim doesn't have to be good, but I don't want her marks to be abysmal. Am I understood?"

Reinhardt salutes, with Cayden following her.

"Yessir!"

Nomida fumbles into a salute of her own, with about a two second delay.

"Y-yes, sir!"

I give Nomida a look and analyze her posture. "We'll fix your salute later."

She immediately withers at those words, with Reinhardt grinning as I walk away.

"Don't worry Nomida-san, we'll make your salute sharp. But first, to the range."

* * *

 _ **Armored Hearts**_

* * *

Nomida let the hot water run over her in the locker room shower, thinking about what had happened earlier today. Those smiling faces on the two girls she fought with…

…they suddenly disappeared when the gun was in their hands. As soon as Reinhardt took hold of the pistol and aimed it down the range, all of that 'older sister' vibe she got from her vanished, replaced with something that made her sick to her stomach.

Wordlessly, she had emptied twelve rounds down the range. Ten perfect shots, with only two straying off center of mass.

And then, as soon as the gun was away from her hands, back in a safe place, Reinhardt's personality had returned. It was the same for Cayden as well.

It wasn't anything strange to her, though. Her own older sister had been the same. Smiling, carefree, always willing to lend a hand… until the shinai was held, and suddenly in the only thing that mattered was cleaving your opponent in two.

Without a word, Nomida put her shaking hands into the position of holding a pistol. She looked at the wall and narrowed her eyes, tracing where the target would be. Squeezing her finger as if about to fire, she readied herself for the recoil.

The pistol hadn't been any heavier than the swords she had wielded before, but something about holding it didn't sit right with her. It was a foreign method to her, thinking she could inflict damage so easily. While she was familiar with guns, holding one in her hands was just so… _alien_.

"Are you okay, Nomida-san?"

"W-wah! R-reinhardt-san…"

"Sorry, did I startle you?" the blonde girl asked, offering a small smile as she wrapped the towel around herself. "...Nomida-san?"

She realized that the girl in the shower was curling up, trying to make herself smaller.

"Nomida-san… is something wrong? You can tell me, it's fine. This isn't like you."

"Y… you… are s-scary…"

"Scary…?"

"You… you're really scary when you have a gun… it's not like you…" she stammered as Reinhardt backed away.

"Ah… I—"

"P-please don't take it personally!" she shouted. "I-I-I just didn't think about um, ah, I um—please excuse me!"

With that, she tried to run past Reinhardt, who with a single smooth motion, grabbed the sprinting girl's arm and moved in front of her so she wouldn't slip and fall.

"E-e-eh?!"

"Nomida-san, please calm down. I'm not insulted. Ah… well, let's talk, okay? I'd like to be friends with you, so… I want to know what you're thinking. And well, we'll be working together so it would be nice if you weren't afraid of me. I guess it's a little scary, but… let me explain it to you. Wait for me for a bit, okay? Get changed, too."

After the two finished changing, Nomida and Reinhardt went out to the benches, where Nomida kept her head down as Reinhardt took out her coin purse.

"Want a drink? There's some canned coffee here."

"U-um, if there's juice…"

"Tomato juice work fine?"

"Y-yes."

Once Reinhardt got the cans, she gave the juice to Nomida before sitting down next to her.

"...so I'm scary when using a gun, huh… I never quite thought of it like that." Reinhardt said with a chuckle as she leaned back, looking up at the ceiling. "But I have to get serious when using a gun, you know?"

"Mhm." Nomida mumbled as she kept her head bowed.

"I guess… maybe it's because I have to put myself into a different mindset. Most normal people can't imagine shooting something, let alone someone. They might do it when their life is on the line, but those people are generally adults too. You don't really think of teenage girls as soldiers, right?"

"No…"

"So that's why I have to get scary, I guess. I have to sort of shift my mind around and get into the proper mindset. When I'm fighting for my life or someone else's in the IS, I can't afford to be my normal self. I've got to be someone who can win the battle, whatever it takes, and protect what's important to her." Reinhardt said, clenching her right fist.

"That's why you change, then?"

"Mhm. I have to stop being soft and full of smiles, but that's only so I can do that later, when I've won the battle. Like now, this is a time of peace. I can smile, be happy, and see those I think of as my friends. But when that is threatened, I must become like steel and not break. Am I making sense, Nomida-san?"

"Mhm. T-thank you, um, Reinhardt-san."

"Anytime. I'm sure Cayden-san's the same way. Those two… well, they're a little more professional about it, but I think they've got something they want to fight for too. Anyways, you're not half bad with a pistol. I'll make sure you turn into a good shot by the time the week's out."

* * *

 _ **Armored Hearts**_

* * *

I continue to observe Reinhardt as time passes. How she reacts, how she moves, everything about her patterns. Anything and everything that might tell me how she'll react to situations on the battlefield.

I also use it as a way to gauge how deep she is into the Sea Glass investigation.

"Oi, Reinhardt." I say, snapping my fingers in front of her face.

"G-gah!" she then looks away, flushing in embarrassment. "Sorry."

"Distracted again?"

"My apologies…"

"What's on your mind?"

"Just thinking about Sea Glass again." she says, knowing that lying to me won't work.

I give a snort. "Reinhardt-san, leave the investigation to the AC world. I'm not going to lie, back then, we were all wary. Look, any organization that's managed to somehow get their hands on an unregistered NEXT that no one has any data on is terrifying. That means they have resources in many places. Resources that would kill to protect their identities, no doubt. I don't mean to insult you, but… I would fear for what might happen to you if you dug too deep."

"Ah… I see. Well, even if you tell me, I have to try. It's… a point of contention in my family."

"Eh?"

"My mother also wants me to drop the investigation. She said something similar to you, actually." She pauses, giving a self-derisive laugh. "But my father wants to know. Something about seeing it firsthand and then seeing how the AC pilot fought… he said he always wondered why that pilot retreated. He felt that one more strike and White Knight would have fallen."

"I see…"

I can feel my rage welling up.

"...it hasn't split your family, has it?"

"Oh? No, no!" She says in a half panicked voice, almost starting to babble. "It's just that they argue about it every now and then. I don't think it would split my family, but I would like for them to stop. So, if I could just find the answer, I'd drop it. All I'd like is to give that answer to my father. Nothing more."

"Huh…"

"Is… something wrong?"

"You really love your father, don't you?"

"Well, he is the man I hold responsible for me getting this far. Truthfully, my mother was very much against me entering the Infinite Stratos world in general. While she was fine with my father playing sports with me and occasionally going hunting, she wanted to raise me to be a… more feminine girl." She looks away, a light blush dusting her cheeks. "You know, dresses, knowing how to style my hair, that sort of thing. A little old fashioned, but she was good natured about it. I think you'd get along with her."

"That means...?"

"Well, the two of you don't really seem to buy into the IS. The world just keeps bombarding you with the 'women are better' and 'The Infinite Stratos is the best thing ever' messages, but she just snorted that off. Um, it's a little embarrassing to say, but, the way you two carry yourselves, asking only a bit of respect in return for yours, aha, you do remind me a little of her."

I only give her a disbelieving, flat look.

"D-don't stare so much. That was really embarrassing to say." She buries her face into her textbook. "L-let's… just study for now, okay?"

I chuckle, returning to my textbook. I guess I understand Reinhardt a little better now along with understanding her weakness. Sea Glass is the one thing that could break her focus. No, rather…

The one thing that breaks her focus is 'something that would stop my family from completely coming back together'. She wants to see it done away with so her father and mother would no longer talk about it. Really, her mother is right. Hidden Hand would not hesitate to terminate her if she drew too close without them wanting to get close.

Such a small wish, in the grand scheme of things. But it's not like I haven't seen smaller wishes create greater miracles.

...after all, my wish to save Mei granted me this life.

* * *

"It's getting late."

"It is." I say, looking up from my book, taking a glance out the window where the sun is setting. "Would you like to grab dinner?"

"Ah, well, I was thinking of cooking something. Would you like to come over? I think my roommate is camping her friend's room so she shouldn't be able to bother you."

"What are you thinking of making?"

"Oh, just some spaghetti. I had the ingredients sitting around for a while but I never got around to actually cooking them. There were… um, well, I bought a little too much and felt self-conscious about cooking all of that by myself."

"You're a little too honest sometimes, you know?" I say as we pack up our things and start walking out of the library.

"I was raised in that kind of household. If you tell lies, they'll one day become all unraveled. Doesn't help mom was good at sniffing them out, too."

"Ha. Dinner sounds nice. If you'll have me, I'll come along. My mentor once told me never to turn down a meal from a woman you trust."

Reinhardt gives a hearty laugh, attracting a few stares. "So you trust me already?"

"Is there a reason I shouldn't?"

"You just seem like the distant type, is all. Earning your trust would be hard and everything like that."

"I'll be your Operator, yes? I have to trust you will protect me from harm and you have to trust me to help keep you alive."

"So that's how you think of it."

"Mhm. But I suppose since I always kept being an Operator to Cayden, it's a little more personal than that. If I just had been contracted constantly, I don't think I would develop a bit of a personal component to it."

"Ah… um, then, thanks."

"Eh?"

"For telling me that clearly. You always imply something like that, so hearing you say it makes me a little happy. I'll be in your hands. Or perhaps I should say that I already have been, as you've been us."

"Indeed."

The two of us pause as we encounter Orimura Ichika at an intersection in the hallway, currently being dragged by Alcott Cecilia by the arm. We give each other a brief glance before I take the initiative and take the first step forward, crossing in front of them.

The two of us lock eyes for a second. I take that second to put a message into my eyes.

" _I do not like you."_

Of course, my surprise is that his eyes had the same message.

Perhaps he's heard of the way I talk about fighting. That it's nothing like the way IS battles are. That they're a bloody fucking struggle where you just try to stay alive to fight another day. Or maybe it's the way I carry myself. There are indeed people I look down on.

People like Alcott.

I did request a dossier on her. While I respect her mental fortitude to begin fighting to protect her parents' wealth and legacy, it's not like it's uncommon as a reason to pick up a gun. What I despise is the way she looks down on men just for being men, all because of the IS. I truly believe that she perceives herself as invincible, though that was quickly shattered by Orimura's battle with her. But he is an exception. I can tell because of my few interactions with her.

Unless I somehow proved myself to her, she would continue to perceive herself as 'above' me. That I was an insect compared to her. No matter how many battlegrounds I had seen in my 'Operator' background in the world of the Armored Core, she would blow it off as the past, for there were many who said the AC could not even begin to compare.

Of course, that was true in some regards. The AC was far less agile and dexterous. But it could operate for longer and in more dangerous situations. It could carry an arsenal that far outstripped even the most advanced IS. Its energy output would put an IS to shame. Or at least, for a NEXT. For a Normal, the IS obviously had the advantage. But even a decent Normal pilot could put mass production IS models on their toes. Hell, a good Normal pilot might even be able to tango with a Representative.

But if you were to take an average NEXT pilot and an average IS Representative? I wholly believe the NEXT pilot would win every time.

"Kazuma-san?"

"Oh, sorry. I got deep in thought."

"What about?"

"Just about the AC. I still feel something's off with how quickly the world tossed away the AC for the IS."

"Ah, this again."

"Do I always bring it up?"

"Sort of."

"Sorry. But as a former AC Operator, it just bugs me. Anyways, to your room now, yes?"

The trek there is fairly uneventful. As Reinhardt said, no one was in here. Her roommate lived a rather… sparkly lifestyle, it seems. There are lots of glitter covered pictures all around her bed on her desk. Looks like her roommate is quite a social butterfly.

"Ah, just leave your bag on my bed. I'll get to cooking. Turn on the TV, too."

I shrug, put my bag on her bed, find the remote, and turn the TV on to the news. I glance over at Reinhardt, who's adjusting her hair into a bun.

With a long sigh of relief, she takes off her jacket and throws it onto the bed. I decide not to move and let it fall into my lap before folding it and setting it off to the side. She doesn't seem to notice as she puts on her black apron, humming to herself.

She seems a little lost in her own world as she starts cooking, starting to prepare her meal. I take a look at the picture on her bedside table which is next to a silver rosary. I figured she was probably religious, but at least kept it subdued. But then again, no such thing as an atheist in a foxhole.

In the picture of her family, all of them are in uniform. Her father and two brothers in their military uniforms, her mother dressed in a suit. In the front is Reinhardt, dressed in her IS Academy uniform. Looks like this photo is pretty recent, then.

I take a look at her dad. He's got blonde hair like Reinhardt's, but that's not say much. All of them are blonde. So you were the one who witnessed my battle with White Knight, huh… I wonder what you'd think, if you knew that I really could have won, but orders are orders. I had to retreat.

I then take a look at her mother. Her hair comes down just past her shoulders, slightly longer than Reinhardt's. I see a few blue bands in her hair, similar to the way Reinhardt normally has it with her reds, making a few braids. Ha, so she taught you everything about that, huh?

I wonder what they'd think though, if they knew you were now making dinner for the person who dueled with White Knight all that time ago, the very same Sea Glass you're searching for.

"Weiss?"

"Sorry, just… saw this photo. This is your family?"

"Ah, yes… they're very lovely."

"Mhm."

"What about you?"

"I didn't really know my family. I was sort of… born into the world of the AC."

"Oh… Um—"

"But," I say, cutting her off. "Mei's pretty much the only person I'd consider family. Maybe that's why I tried really hard for her, too. Don't pity us though, we really don't like that. It's our lives and well, we're blessed to make it here. I'm lucky I survived this long, after all. As is Mei."

"I see. You two do seem like brother and sister sometimes. Without even a single word you guys can have a whole conversation."

"It's just the result of lots of time spent together. When you've been together as long as us, you can pretty much tell what is the other is thinking sometimes by just the way they walk into a room."

"That must be nice."

"It isn't sometimes. Or at least for me, since Mei can read me like an open book. You know, if I just want to think about something on my own for a bit and withdraw, Mei will see it instantly and with her personality, she hounds me about it until I crack."

Reinhardt chuckles as I hear the snapping of pasta. "You never get to anything like that back?"

"Not really."

"You don't seem like the type to really tease her back either way."

"Ah, it is what it is, I guess. I usually get her back by reminding her of something silly she did back in the day, but I prefer to time it well so the effect lasts. Much like a sniper, one must wait for the most opportune moment."

"Indeed. Of course, as I've watched you train the others, it's evident you have a sniper's mindset drilled into you."

"It wouldn't escape your eye, I take it?"

"As someone who's trained to be an IS sniper, I would be looking for those most likely to pose the greatest threat to me—"

Both of us speak at the same time. "—a countersniper."

There's a slight pause in the air before Reinhard laughs.

"Ah, if only I could switch roommates now." she says with an exasperated sigh, continue to work on the food in the pan. "My roommate is a blader, fan of Orimura Chifuyu. She's not half bad with the blade, but really she'd be much more fit with something like light firearms. I've tried to convince her to even give it a shot, but it's always 'Orimura-sama this', 'Brunhilde that'."

As she makes a few slashing motions with her plastic spoon before speaking in an abnormal tone, most likely an impression of her roommate. "I must become one with my sword, so I might win the respect of Brunhilde!" Her tone shifts back to a normal one. "Honestly, half of wishing I could change roommates is because I'd take you in a heartbeat if only so we could improve our marksmanship, but the other half is not wanting to put up with her downright near fanatical devotion."

"Not a big fan of Orimura?"

"I respect her. She is indeed a fearsome opponent and I understand anyone hesitating to fight her. But she's human, like the rest of us. In a few years I expect the obsession to go down. It's like a general returning from winning a war. Everyone wants to be around him because it's the grand war hero who won us the victory, but give it a few years and everyone will forget about him. I'm sure she'll be in the history textbooks, but I don't think she's someone to walk after." she gives a bit of a smile. "Besides, guns and swords don't exactly mix too well, right?"

"Heh, that's true."

"Anyways, sorry I couldn't prepare anything too special." she says as I hear the sizzling die down. "Just some spaghetti, mom's old recipe, as promised."

"Ah, I believe a coworker of mine once said 'Any meal prepared by a woman for you, if edible, is more than enough'."

Reinhardt rolls her eyes as she undoes her apron and unfolds her school jacket before putting it on, giving her arms a bit of a stretch before going over to get two plates.

"I'll get the utensils. Forks or chopsticks?"

"Chopsticks?"

"I knew a few strange guys. One would even eat chips with chopsticks."

"Fork, please." she says with a hint of disbelief.

"Coming right up. Anything in the fridge I should grab for you?"

"There should still be two cans of soda in there, so get them both."

"Ah, I'll just be having water though."

"Well, I guess only one can is enough."

"Alright." I pull out a can of soda along with the water pitcher, bringing them all to her desk.

"Oh, you can borrow my roommate's chair while she's not here."

I nod, putting my items down before rolling the chair over. She scoots her own chair over, giving me some room sit down next to her. An odd silence sets in as we eat our food, as we focus on eating rather than dish is really good, or at least it's better than what we had on base.

My fork clanks on the glass plate as I finish, leaning back.

"Thank you for the meal."

"Was it good?"

"It was. I haven't had a homecooked dish like that in a while." I say, conveying a sense of sincerity.

"Are you sure that wasn't just another thing your old friends didn't tell you?" she fires back, though the smile is evident on her first.

"Haha! No, they didn't tell me to do that. If anything they told me to tell a woman her cooking is shit if it is so you don't end up with a girl making you eat her crappy food everyday."

Reinhardt laughs at this as well, taking a bit to recover. "Ah, I wish I could meet some of them. They seem similar to the stories my father would tell about how he and his squadmates had their fair share of adventures."

"Ah, yes…" I can't help but grin a bit, remembering those days. "We would be similar in that regard, eh?"

"Oh, I hope he can take a phone call sometime. I'm sure the two of you would love to talk to one another as a military man to another."

"Introducing me to your family, eh? Moving a bit fast."

Reinhardt coughs, half-choking on her soda that she sits down, a thin blush dusting her cheeks. "A-ah, don't think of it like that!"

"Joking, joking."

"R… right." She holds her hand to her mouth and coughs, clearing her throat. "Well, I'm glad you liked tonight's dinner, Weiss."

"Thank you for cooking, Reinhardt." I take a look at my watch. "Ah, I believe I should be going. It's getting late and I'm sure Mei's going to interrogate my ass on where I've been and why I didn't eat with her."

"She's a little clingy, isn't she?"

"It comes with the whole 'This may be the last time we ever see and talk to each other face to face' business. Even if we've moved to relatively peaceful days, it doesn't undo years and years of habit and thought."

"Mhm. I'll show you to the door."

"Oh, at least let me help you with the dishes first."

"No, no, I'll be fine." she says, standing up. "But thank you for the thought."

I get up from my chair as well and stretch. "Haaa. Alright, well, I'll be off then."

With that, the two of us walk to the door, with me stepping through it, Reinhardt staying behind. I turn to face her, hoisting my school briefcase over my shoulder.

"Good night, Reinhardt."

"Good night, Weiss."

"See you tomorrow."

"Oh, well, I did make quite a lot tonight. Would you like for me to bring you the leftovers, though?"

"If you want to."

She grins, putting a hand on her hip. "You know, my dad said that his old military friends did say if a woman ever asks something like that, you really should give a clear yes or no. Saying anything else drives them up a wall."

"Ah, but you're not a woman, you're a young woman."

She rolls her eyes, giving me a light shove on the shoulder. "You know what I meant."

"Fine, fine. Yes, I'd like some. Oh, but not tomorrow though. Repeating things too soon makes it lose its appeal."

"I can agree with that."

"Anyways, enough delays. I need to get going. See you in class tomorrow, class representative."

She gives a nod before closing the door as I turn around, starting to walk away.

Well, I do believe the class tournament is soon… let's have a look at your abilities, Reinhardt. You're already a good fighter on your own, but when paired with someone whose specialty is not just winning, but killing your opponent swiftly and form a distance—let's see how terrifying you can be.

* * *

 **Wew, that took a while. A Reinhardt heavy chapter, with a bit of Nomida development. I think next time will be a battle chapter before we shift over to a focus on the other characters. The bullet dodging/blocking scene I thought was important due to the shield mechanics I introduced and since we've established/seen so far that the characters aren't personal unit users and are probably going to be using mass produced units/weapons, a lesson where Weiss teaches them the minute details of effectively using those weapons in an IS and that their properties still apply was important. Truth be told I stole a bit of these mechanics from World of Warships, where you can mitigate damage from AP shells by cruising at an angle to allow for less penetration. I sort of applied these mechanics along with a rudimentary understanding of mechanical physics and whatnot to come up with this.**

 **While it was pretty Reinhardt centric, I thought it was good to mix in some of Nomida's development as out of the main 3 combatants we've seen so far she's the one with the least formal combat background, though I used this as a chance to hint at combat training (as her older sister using a shinai, being a practitioner of kendo most likely, was mentioned) to justify that she has some sort of combat sense about her. However, I did want to give her a bit of "out of place"ness as she is uncomfortable using guns, which should get developed on further. I also took this as a chance to strike more differences between the two and sort of make them foils to each other. Reinhardt is calm, collected, and only has a few things that make her falter; Nomida is a little jittery, anxious, but as Weiss hypothesized there are a few things in life that she would take a stand for without intent to ever back down. This then also makes Mei sort of the middle ground personality-wise: she's calm, but bubbly towards people. Anxious about the big picture, but willing to take the current situation with open arms. I'm hoping that I'll be able to come up with scenes that showcase our two main noncombatants, Meghan and Blanc, since I've been focusing on the pilots quite a bit.**

 **Anyways, let me know what you think.**


	6. Salt Pillars

**Wow, that long. Junior year was a real doozy, but I AM FREE… up until next year. I really wish I could've updated more but I could never find time between like a half dozen projects and all of my upper level classes.**

 **Not fun, lemme tell you that much.**

 **Anyways, here we are. I'm going to pop off to bed soon after partying, but I thought I'd launch out one last update before I do so (lol). I'll to the review replies to the chapter in the morning when I wake up. Again, I'm sorry for taking so long, but school first, you know?**

 **EDIT V1.1: WHOOPS I STARTED PARTYING TOO HARD AND FORGOT TO DO THE REVIEW REPLIES GG NO RE LADS, OKAY REVIEW REPLY TIME, GO!**

 **BrokenLifeCycle** : Well, it's more just Weiss talking about specialization and the approaches to combat each one takes, though ironically he himself is of dual specialization due to his "synchronization sickness" from AMS, being originally a blader but gaining sniper skills due to the wet-wiring (lol) A multi-purpose weapon would be efficient, but it'd take some work to make it just as good as their specialized counterparts. The line itself is more a jab at her roommate though XD Thanks for the reviewing!

 **Kerlongsj Evert Orlejov:** Heyo! Yeah, the training sequence was fun, but I think it probably could have been handled a little more smoothly.I really did have some fun comparing and contrasting the machines as well, with the IS and AC being able to fulfill very different purposes, hehe. As for throwing everything into offense, while it's a poor strategy for most, I think there are people, especially given decently advanced equipment, who could pull it off. The problem is that Chifuyu is one of those people that can pull it off and Weiss is also hinted to have been like that as well, but Ichika is definitely _not_ in that category, putting him at a disadvantage. Hopefully it won't be too long before I pop in again, I was hoping to put out one more update before I go back to school. Thanks for dropping by!

 **Grinja:** Ah, I see. Yeah, the training part was mainly me just putting in some hint things, sort of "hey remember that scene from way earlier before" for when they pull some sort of ace-in-the-hole strategy so it doesn't seem like it was pulled out of my ass XD I did have more fun writing the interactions though, but I'll try to make any more training scenes I include more interesting, since it'd be good to pull the weaker portions up to snuff. Thanks for reading!

 **ItzABlueWulf:** Shhhhhhhhhh, we'll just let that spaghetti snap slide, okay? XD Thanks for your review!

 **Alright that should take care of everything! Let's get this chapter started.**

* * *

 **Chapter 6:** Salt Pillars

* * *

I look through the list of parts we're considering using to help Reinhardt out for her upcoming battle. Lisarene is here too, sitting sideways in the operator chair, her legs drooped over the armrest.

"I still worry about how you even got who our opponent was."

"A girl's got her ways, Kazuma." she says with a sly grin back.

"I know they were going to post it tomorrow, but the fact you got it two days in advance indicates something to be cautious of."

"Let's just say that some of the seniors don't pilot so they help out with organization."

"It wouldn't happen to have involved my underwear, would it?"

"I can neither confirm nor deny that it involved the underwear that I requested from you the other day."

"Goddammit, Lisarene." I grumble. This girl's frightful, I'll give her that much. The two of us defaulted to last names because honorifics are just such a pesky thing and we came from Western countries so we didn't think to really use them. Of course, we had enough tact to realize using first names would attract more attention, so last names it was.

"Hey look, I can't help it if you're fap material for the seniors."

"I didn't need to know it like that."

"Oh man, you should _hear_ the fantasies they have about dominating the big bad Kazuma Weiss, though."

"The _what_?"

"You really need to put your head in the rumor mill. They call you the opposite of Orimura Ichika. He's feminine, is fairly submissive, does things when people ask, and is a people guy. Meanwhile there's you, oozing with military masculinity, in command, is the one giving orders, and people follow your coattails." She gives another laugh. "So, you know, winning against the _indomitable_ Kazuma Weiss, it's a pretty standard fantasy."

"Goddammit. So, back on the actual subject we're supposed to be on, what do you got for me?"

"Well, our enemy's packing lots and lots of missiles. I don't think flares are going to really help, but they'll be a good last ditch effort."

"Alright. You've got more, right?"

"Yeah. The Revives have this machine gun module that goes on the shoulders. The gun can be swapped out for a type that's better for blasting missiles out of the sky. Also, I wasn't able to pull what kind of missiles she has, so I don't know if they're radar or heat-seaking."

"Shit."

"Yeah, no good. If we give her flares, we're going to have to play it half and half just to be safe."

"Damn."

"She shouldn't use them in optimal circumstances though. She's a sniper, let her pick off her opponent from a distance.

"That is true, but still. If Reinhardt can't find a good opening to line up a shot, that distance is going to mean nothing. These open arenas are stupid." I mumble, shaking my head. "They don't teach you anything that way!"

"Heh, but wouldn't it just be a test of pure skill in piloting then?"

"Part of piloting is learning to use the terrain effectively! Use cliff faces and rock formations to hide yourself from the enemy, zip behind buildings to lose your enemy, all of that." I sigh again, leaning on the desk in front of me. "I've seen fights in open terrain though with the AC, but that's because they're just that damn fast. And getting anywhere within an AC's range with conventional weapons is just nearly suicidal. The IS is compact enough that potential ground deployment, on an actual conventional battlefield, should be anticipated. You don't get that with an AC as much, mainly because if anyone's moronic enough to hide in a bunker without an ass-load of firepower that would make anyone second guess attacking you, it's going to take all of three seconds to blast you to kingdom come."

"Preach it!" she says before laughing. "Well, I can see where you're coming from."

"It's frankly ridiculous that you're asking a _sniper type IS_ to fight in the open air. If anything you could treat her like a portable tactical weapon. Give her time to set up and do a lot more damage than what a normal sniper can do, plus she can extract herself."

"Yeah, but you know IS units aren't supposed to be used for you know, military ops."

"Which is why this situation is really damn stupid."

"Heh. Well, we got a build going for her, right?"

"Yeah. Shoulder mount for anti-missiles, flares for emergencies, sidearm and sniper rifle. Fairly basic."

"But basic is fine too."

"KISS principle, after all. Will you handle the counterweights or should I do that?"

"I can take care of it."

"Alright, thanks. I'll let her know her set up, then we can give her some information, use some weights, and get her used to the feel of how her IS will feel."

"Sounds like a plan. You up for catching dinner later after I run the program?"

"Unfortunately I can't make it." I say, getting up from my chair. "I've got plans already."

"Date with Reinhardt-san?"

"You wish." I reply with a snort. "See you around, Lisarene."

* * *

My meeting is with Nomida, as I'm testing her today on her pistol skills.

"Alright, target set. You're clear to fire." I say, setting the target distance to twenty meters.

Reinhardt had her try various pistols, with Nomida settling on a Colt. I thought the choice to be pretty standard and Reinhardt noted she seemed to do better with it.

Her stance is good for someone who just learned. Reinhardt must've drilled her well. She stands up straight and aims the gun down the range. Her finger squeezes the trigger ever so slightly, setting the first shot right into center of mass.

The seven shots after that aren't half bad. Five hit center of mass, one in the arm, and only two misses. I pull down on the lever to bring the target towards us as Nomida puts down her gun.

"Good job, you did fairly well. Granted, this is in a controlled environment. Your actual performance in a live exercise has yet to be seen."

"Ah, t… thank you."

"I'm not done."

"Mghm…"

"Here's the thing, though. You've been firing at targets all this time, right?"

"Yes?"

"Do you believe you can look at another human being, aim the gun, and pull the trigger?"

I see her gulp.

"You're piloting a machine of war, Nomida-san. That is something I need to ingrain into you. The IS? I don't give a damn if you tell me that bullshit Alaska Treaty is there. It's loaded with weapons and can be used to engage targets. At some point you will have to consider the possibility you will be asked to attack a human target. Maybe not with a gun, but perhaps you'll have to cut someone down with your sword."

I put my finger out and catch her chin, preventing her from looking at the ground.

"Look at me. This is something you have to accept. I'll repeat myself as many times as it takes. This is an environment, at this school, where you can learn this without consequences. If the first time you had to think about ending a human life was on the battlefield, you might as well be dead."

"Ah…"

"I will be frank with you. You really do have to consider what you're doing. If you don't feel you can learn to do or even visualize yourself doing it, you should reconsider being a pilot."

I can see that she's about to cry. I remove my finger from her chin and take a step back.

"Do what you want, but be ready to accept the consequences."

It's best I do this, before going forward. I don't want to teach Nomida how to fight without knowing she's ready to use it when the time comes.

That was the first thing that happened with Mei and I. Before they teach you how to kill better, they strip away your hesitation to kill. Without that hesitation, it becomes easier to stomach doing things.

I won't go that far with Nomida, but I know she has to be ready. It would just be downright cruel of me to teach her how to become a more effective combatant, only for her to never know how to live on the battlefield.

* * *

"Guoh!" I grunt, taking a heavy hit from Mei.

"What the fuck, Weiss?!"

I rub my cheek, estimating how hard Mei just hit me. Fuck, she even did a palm strike right there. Agh. It was hard enough too that she knocked me onto the ground as I hadn't seen that coming from her.

"What the hell, Mei?!"

"I heard what happened to Nomida after school, you prick! What the fuck did you do?" She then leans down and whispers into my ear. "Look the walls are thin enough that they can hear us and I know one of the girls next door is in our class so just help me play the part, okay?"

"Fine." I mumble back.

She still narrows her eyes at me. "I'm still partially upset at you though."

A thorough yelling at from Mei ensues. After about ten minutes, Mei plops down on the bed.

"I think that should be enough. But I still am actually upset."

"At what?"

"You were way too direct. That girl's too easy to break, you know?" she says, crossing her arms. "I can already guess what you talked to her about."

"Yeah…"

"Taking a life… geez, you really do show no mercy, eh?" she says, patting the area of the bed next to her. I get up and sit down beside her, Mei lightly elbowing me in the rib. "I know it's an important lesson, but you could've been a little more tactful."

"If she isn't prepared to get on the battlefield…"

"I know." Mei leans into me, smiling. "But she's just a normal girl, you know?"

"If she wants to stay like that, she shouldn't be on the battlefield."

"We don't all have a choice."

"...I know." I mutter back.

Before the two of us can continue talking, we both jump to attention at the sound of knocking at the door. Mei goes to get it.

"Oh, Yumemi-sensei, what brings you here?"

"Is Kazuma in?"

"He is. Is this… about Nomida-san?"

"I'm afraid it is."

I walk into the hallway of the room and look at our teacher. "Mei, no need to talk on my behalf. Yumemi-sensei, I won't say I'm sorry. But I do acknowledge that I could have… used a better approach."

She crosses her arms. "Kazuma-kun, I really hope you don't think that's going to be enough."

"I'm not under any formal obligation, though."

"I know, but you understand the effects this little incident had on your… _approval_ , let us say, and the cooperation of the class in general."

"Tell me what's enough, then."

"Just go talk to her. I do not make a habit of interfering with my students' lives but this is a particularly delicate case. Seeing as you are the designated Class Operator, it will be troublesome if no one wishes to work with you. Especially as Nomida is the third backup pilot."

"Then it is as simple as replacing me."

"Were it so easy." she says with a snort. "I also do not like seeing the divide in my classroom. I would rather you resolve the situation so it does not bleed into my teaching time. It would also be detrimental to the education of the class in general if they are not willing to work with a specific operator and if I have to spend time disciplining the class out of snubbing you."

Women are vicious indeed. While not so much physically on the battlefield, I suppose I should have never underestimated the effects of a rumor mill of high school girls.

"The rumor mill churned it out pretty quick, huh…"

"It always does." With that, Yumemi turns away. "Do what you want, Kazuma-kun, but I would like it if this were taken care of quickly. Her room is seven hundred ninety four."

I sigh as she walks away, leaning on the wall. I only wanted to convey to her that if she was not ready to step onto the battlefield not to do such a thing. I guess I don't have much of a choice now, do I… after all, Yumemi's "suggestion" was more of a command.

...I guess I should go verify things myself, anyways.

"Hey Mei, hand me my jacket."

She tosses it to me and I slip it on, buttoning it up since I'm just wearing an undershirt.

"Heading out?"

"Yeah."

"Go get 'em."

I snort, starting to walk to Nomida's room. I decide to ignore the whispers and pointing fingers when I go through the halls. They don't really bother me. Not like I'm heavily concerned about my social standing. I am good at what I do and that's enough for me. That is something that can't be denied.

Soon enough, I find myself at her door. I can hear voices inside. Well… sorry about this.

I knock on the door three times, the voices inside ceasing immediately. I then hear someone shuffling up to the door and unlocking it.

The door opens—

"Well then." I say as Reinhardt's slap is held back by Stoneson.

"Dammit, Meghan…"

"I know you're mad, Ursula, but you can't just do that!" the American girl yells, holding Reinhardt back before slumping her shoulders.

"I thought you above using violence like that, Reinhardt."

"I did too, but sometimes a slap is necessary." Reinhardt then shakes her head as Meghan lets go of her. "Hey Nomida-san, a certain idiot came by."

"I came here to talk." I say as professionally as possible.

"Really now?"

It feels odd, seeing Reinhardt like this. The normal warmth she has is gone, she really must be annoyed at me.

"Ursula, just let him talk…" Stoneson says, giving Reinhardt's hand a bit of a squeeze. "He came to at least say sorry, right?"

"Among other things."

"Not helping your case, Kazuma-san!"

An exasperated Stoneson sighs, putting her head against the wall. Reinhardt then steps out in front again.

"Kazuma-san, I—"

Nomida pokes her head out, remaining hidden. "I-it's fine, Reinhardt-san… I… I'm willing to talk to him. You… you can just wait outside while we talk."

Reinhardt looks back at her, then to me, then back to Stoneson. Stoneson looks at Nomida, who nods. The silent message is passed along.

Reinhardt closes her eyes. "Kazuma-san, I'm not that mad. I'm more disappointed in you. I thought you could do better. I still respect you as an Operator as your skill cannot be denied, but I have lost a bit of respect for you outside of that.I understand there are truths you want to impart, but please remember that not everyone's the same. Good night."

With that, she strides past me without another word, with the air around her saying there will be no further discussion and goes over to the opposite wall to lean back on it, looking away from me. Stoneson gives Nomida a tight hug before whispering something to her, pulling away.

"Don't be too harsh on her, okay…?"

Stoneson whispers that to me as she passes by before walking over next to Reinhardt.

I look at Nomida, who nods. I then step into the room and close the door behind me.

"Anywa—"

I pause, seeing Nomida run into the bathroom and close the door.

"We… we can talk like this, right?!"

I blink, then nod to myself before sitting down on the floor, my back against the bathroom door. "Yeah, sure. So… Nomida-san."

"Y-yes…?"

"I won't apologize for what I said. I really do believe it. I would never apologize for my beliefs. You shouldn't step onto the battlefield unless you're ready to die. Unless you're ready to kill to avoid being killed."

"You… you've fought, right? Like for real?"

"Yeah. I've got blood on my hands. I can't say much more than that."

I can hear her gulp through the door.

"How… how many?"

"You don't want to know. And more importantly, I don't keep count. I don't really fit the whole… fighter stereotype, you know? I don't take pride in my kills. I don't take pride in the amount of times I've been on the battlefield. For most people like me, that sort of thing is a nightmare to think about."

I hear Nomida give a small "Mhm".

"But it's because of my knowledge… It's why I say what I say. If I… wasn't ready to have to kill again, I don't know if I'd survive. Nomida-san, I want you to survive, for the day you are forced onto the battlefield—because you're piloting an IS, that is a completely reasonable assumption to make. I want you to learn how to survive. But you can't survive by letting your enemies go. There will come a day you have to put them down.

"That's why I told you, you need to find something you want to hold onto. Taking a human life is something that requires an extraordinary amount of willpower to do so and not break under the weight of the act. The majority of people in the world will go their whole lives without ever having to consider taking another life. Those who do, some of them can't bear it. It's a terrible weight on you. But that's why you need something that will get you to persist past it. If there's something you're willing to put ahead of everything else, no matter what sin you have to bear, then you can stay sane. You need to find a direction you're willing to take and make peace with the knowledge you'll do anything to keep advancing towards it."

I can her sniffle.

"Need a break, Nomida-san?"

"Mghgh, no. I…" I can hear her shift around. "...were right."

"Hm?"

"...you were right. I…"

"I was right about what?"

I can her sniffle some more, breaking out into sobs.

"I'll wait, Nomida-san. Do whatever you need."

"M-mhgm…"

A few seconds go by before I hear her take a deep breath.

"...I didn't have any direction. That's why… that's why it hurt so much… To hear those words."

I wait a few seconds, letting Nomida recover herself. I can hear her cry for a bit. About five minutes go by, but I just wait, letting her get it out. This is a crucial moment for her.

If I leave now, then I am sure she'll be absolutely broken. In fact, part of me wants to do so right now. A girl like Nomida doesn't belong on the battlefield. Not as she is now. It would be cruelty on my part to continue with this.

Yet I can't bring myself to do it. Because I can sense there is something more to it. I do not know if she told me to sway me out of pity or to somehow get me to lessen the force of my words, but the fact she told me means she has opened herself up to me.

And so, I wait.

Two more minutes before there's a slapping sound, likely her slapping her cheeks.

"Are you..."

"Still here."

"...Kazuma-san…"

"Yeah?"

"I… I have this friend."

"What about this friend?"

Well, it can't hurt to play along.

"This friend didn't have any choice to become an IS pilot. This friend of mine really wanted to be a medical student, but then the person in her family that was going to be a pilot became ill. But this friend had a family that wanted so desperately to have a pilot in their home because they wanted to brag. Because this friend's family wanted to match up to Orimura…"

"Go on." I say, prompting her when she slows down.

After a few more sniffles, she keeps going.

"...so this friend who wanted to be a doctor had to become an IS pilot. But she was really, really bad. She could barely pilot. She couldn't even really hold a sword. The only reason my friend got in was because her sister wanted to see her fly, so she applied herself to studying very hard and learning how to fight with a sword. This friend passed the test with such a high score that even with her low piloting skill she managed to get in. A-and along the way, she became not half bad at using a sword..."

"Ah…"

Some of us… didn't have a choice.

...yeah. I guess I overlooked it. I always thought of not having a choice in the ways of being on the battlefield. But I guess Nomida counts too. As a kid she probably didn't know any better.

Heh, look at me. Sick of the prejudice on us AC pilots and males in the world of the IS, yet I myself was prejudiced at Nomida's lack of conviction, not even considering that maybe she did not step onto the battlefield of her own volition!

My right fist clenches up, but I force myself to calm down. I just need to remain calm enough to listen to the rest of Nomida's story.

"...but this friend was very weak. But she met someone who she thought could make her strong. Because my friend wanted to think she was strong enough to chase something. But then he said something that didn't seem right. And my friend imagined having to cut down everyone in her path before finding the reason she did it all."

"...you can stop if you want."

"O… okay."

"I know the rest, anyways." I cough, clearing my throat. "...I guess I can try to train your friend. If your friend came to that realization… that you need to find something to cling to and won't ever turn back on to be strong, maybe she can do it. After all… I had a friend of mine that went through the same thing. And he went through a brutal training regimen that made them realize everything wrong with them so they could begin working on it. And he passed it on to me."

"A-ah—!"

"Mei told you, right? My training, you should be prepared to die. I will not train you to win an exhibition match. No, I will train you to pilot a machine of war. To realize that you will have to cut people down. To realize that there is no victory without sacrifice. I will train you to _survive_ the battlefield. I won't go easy on you… your friend, I mean."

"R-right…!"

"Anyways… I won't apologize for my words, but I guess I could have been a little more sensitive." I say as I stand up. "...after all, I guess you could say we both didn't have a choice to take up arms. Good talk, Nomida-san. I'll see myself out."

I begin walking out the room when the bathroom door opens. I give a brief glance behind me, finding Nomida ran out and pinched my right sleeve.

"Nomida-san?" I ask, seeing the tears dripping down her face.

"...thank you."

"Don't thank me yet. You haven't even begun to train."

* * *

My fist pounds the punching bag again and again, the rattling of chains echoing out across the room. I let loose a chain of punches, all made for incapacitating an opponent before delivering a knockout kick to where my opponent's face would be. I don't feel anything from these strikes anymore, either.

Ha… ha…

"Done yet?" Mei asks from the side, having found me a while back. Probably got curious as to where I went since I didn't go right back to the room.

I fall to my knees, slumping my head against the punching bag. I'm completely covered in sweat, having discarded my shirt a long time ago. It's probably past curfew now, but I could hardly give a fuck.

"No… not yet." I hiss, getting up to my feet. For another fifteen minutes I pound on the bag before collapsing again, finally out of breath.

"Fuck… goddammit."

"Water?"

I look up at Mei and take the water she offers me before chugging the whole thing.

"Geez… you've been hitting that bag for an hour and a half now. New record. You must be hella pissed."

"You know I am."

I slam the punching bag with my fist again. "God-fucking-dammit!"

"It's not your fault."

To anyone else, it would look more like I'm pounding away because of making Nomida cry. I bet I look like some knight that's been shamed or something.

But Mei knows why I'm pissed.

Because it is my fault.

I can't yell it out right now. There might be someone listening in that could put the pieces together.

But goddammit! If I had won that day…! What would've happened?! Would we be watching the slow death of the AC? Would Nomida not be here and instead be studying to become a doctor? Maybe she'd be off curing cancer or something like that, but no, because of my failure to win, she's been thrust into the battlefield!

Before I can pound the bag again, Mei catches me by the wrist.

"That's enough out of you. You can't change the past, Weiss."

"I know. But I can hate it."

"I think that's enough for today, Weiss." Mei says with a little more force.

I hiss, trying to control myself. I must not… lose myself…

"Come on, Weiss. This isn't like you."

"I know, but that's because it hurts…"

"And I know you're going to hurt yourself if you keep going like this. Calm down, Weiss."

Mei lets go of my wrist and instead wraps her arms around my back. I can feel her warmth, her breasts pressing up against my hair, her chin lightly pushing into my neck.

"You're getting your clothes soaked in my sweat." I say in my weak attempt to get her off of me.

"It's fine. You'll wash them, right?"

"...no."

"Meanie." she pouts.

"Quiet, you." I growl out, though I can't muster the ill will towards Mei.

"Are you feeling better, now?"

"A little bit. Thanks."

Dammit Mei… what would I ever do without you…? You really have saved my life, over and over again.

"Weiss?" Mei asks as I rub my eyes out.

"Not a word."

"Mhm."

I know she knows that I'm crying. But if there's anyone allowed to see me cry, it's her.

"Need some comforting tonight?"

"Depends on what you're offering."

"Moron." she says, lightly chopping me on the back of the head. "...whatever you need."

"Just make me some dinner."

"You know I can't really cook. But I can prepare a bath for you. Or…" she leans over, putting her mouth near the back of my ear. "Would you like _me_ to prepare~?"

"Oh can it." I say, getting up, bringing Mei with me,. "Let's go, Mei. I need to take a shower, anyways."

Mei smiles, picking up my clothes and throwing them to me. "Mhm. Let's go. Besides, you have a match in a few days, right?"

* * *

 _ **Armored Hearts**_

* * *

Class next day is really awkward, but Nomida does help heal things over by talking to me in public. I try my best to support it, but it's still off-putting to most people.

At the very least, the guilt that I display is genuine enough, but not for the reasons everyone thinks. Reinhardt doesn't talk to me as much, but she at least greets me throughout the day.

There's some definite tension in the air, at least. I didn't know that Reinhardt could be so spiteful.

"She seems really annoyed, hehehe." Mei says, nudging me on shoulder at lunch. "Guess it means you won't have to worry about the rumor mill about you and her, right?"

"Oh shut up." I grumble, breaking open my chopsticks. "I have no doubts about her professionalism, but I will admit it makes class very suffocating. But I'll deal with it."

"Alright, whatever you say. The matches are coming up in a few days, right?"

"Yes."

"Well, I'll talk to her later. I'm sure that she's still willing to have you as an Operator, though. At least Nomida's happy with you, right?"

"I suppose. I'm waiting until after the match to begin training her."

"She really does trust you, hm? What did you say to her?" She leans in, smiling far too widely for her own good. "Come on, spill."

"I can't say. A woman's entrusted words to a man are a secret that man ought to take to the grave."

Mei's smile fades away into a demure yet teasing grin as she leans back. "Learned that one from your teacher, right?"

The old pilot of Sea Glass, yeah…

I give a small laugh at myself. "Yeah, of course. He's the one who taught me everything I know about women, anyways."

"Didn't teach you enough, it seems."

I snort at this comment, leaving Mei only laughing at my reaction.

The rest of the week goes by quickly. Soon enough it's Friday, where the matches begin. We're up first, so all eyes are on us to give a good opening performance. Of course, we're up against a representative. The odds are stacked against us, not to mention the earlier drama is going to put a chink in our armor.

"Let's review the mission." I say from up in my Operator booth. "Leaf One, do you copy?"

" _I copy, Operator."_

"Alright. You're up against unit _Mountainous Clouds_ , piloted by who Class 1-B calls Tel-chan, or Julia Trella, Poland's Representative Pilot. It's an IS dedicated to rapid long range attacks. Focuses mainly on an artillery barrage style approach, it's got many missile launches and two main cannons, but you know about this already. You've got an open field, so you're at a disadvantage."

The pictures Lisarene managed to snag were… _interesting_. Rather than a 'traditional' IS unit, this one looked more just like a launching platform for missiles, with the cannons there for additional support. I guess they just couldn't add any more weight on it? I mean, from what it looks like, it's incredibly heavy, not to mention the fact this is likely meant to be some sort of long range artillery support on a whole different level than your usual artillery. Might be an experimentation in an IS that can be integrated into a task force?

"You're effectively an infantryman going up against an armored building. However, your objective is so simply deal with the shields. All that power consumption means she's either moving or shooting, but never both. Put pressure on her to keep moving. For this mission, you've been given a dozen flares. We were unable to determine whether or not she uses heat seaking or radar guided missiles, you have six flares to get rid of each type. Use those only in a last ditch. Your primary missile defense is the shoulder mounted gun module on your left shoulder. Keep your distance and let the gun do its work while you shoot."

" _Understood."_

"Keep your distance and open fire. I trust a sniper of your caliber can keep up. I doubt she'll try to close the distance, but be wary. If it becomes necessary, use a heat seeking flare to try to blind her."

" _Right."_

"The mission is simple, Leaf One. Incapacitate the enemy Infinite Stratos unit. Any questions?"

" _No, sir. Kazuma-san, I…"_

"Reinhardt-san?"

" _...I'm trusting you. I… may have been a little distant lately, but I still think you will guide me to victory. It's in your hands."_

"Of course. It's my job, after all. Come back home to us safe and sound, Pilot. Flash acknowledgement light whenever you're ready. Switching myself to ready position."

With that, I flip the switch that designates myself as ready. Reinhardt moves over to the launching platform and stands on it, flashing her countdown light. After five seconds, it switches to the solid green 'ready' symbol. I see the enemy team does the same.

"Don't bother with banter. The instant you can, begin opening fire."

" _Got it."_

" _Matching Beginning in thirty seconds."_ The automated voice of the announcer rings out. _"Thirty. Twenty nine. Twenty eight…"_

"Lisarene, status report."

"All components look good to go, everything firing off at a hundred percent capability. She's ready to kick some ass, will keep you posted."

"Understood. Leaf One, T-minus ten to launch."

" _Helmet coming on, loading HUD."_

Five.

Four.

Three.

Two.

One.

I watch Reinhardt's speedometer shoot up high as she takes off with the catapult. She quickly readjusts her positioning, taking off into the air where the sun is behind her.

" _Heeeey, Reinhardt-san, I've heard that you've had some drama with you—"_

Her taunting is interrupted by Reinhardt emptying two shots from her Anti-Material rifle into her opponent. Her opponent lets out a loud cry before a swarm of at least sixteen missiles comes out.

"Missiles incoming! Make some distance if you need it!"

Reinhard doesn't move however, and simply fires off two flares. I see her counter go down, one of each flare.

"Confirming radar guided chaff is effective!" I call out, seeing that the heat flare didn't attract any missiles along with checking that the shoulder gun is working. Reinhardt fires off another blast from her sniper rifle, striking her opponent head on. "Warning, her cannons are turning towards you!"

Reinhardt boosts away as I bring up two lines that show where her cannons are aiming due to having direct footage of what's going on. She tries to get a fourth shot off, but aiming with that rifle while dodging another barrage of missiles proves to be too much and she gets her first miss.

"Lisarene, need a report on the turning of those cannons!"

"Already on it, doing the calculations to give you an estimate on their turn speed!"

"You know, usually an Operator does this on their own."

"Ah, well, the more the merrier." I say nonchalantly to Yumemi-sensei. "Another missile swarm, you're in open air, watch yourself."

Reinhardt twists in the air before firing a shot into the missiles, setting off a few in a chain reaction which give her shoulder gun less work while she lines up another shot.

"Cannons almost have a lock!"

" _Gah!"_

Reinhardt moves out of the way but her shields still manage to get clipped.

"Switch to reduced shielding mode, get out of bubble shield while you're moving!"

" _Copy."_

"I've got a rough number on that turning speed!"

"Send it over. Leaf One, we've got new intel on those cannons, putting it up on your HUD now, you should be able to see and predict where she's going to fire."

" _Thanks."_

"Leaf One, we've got another swarm!" I say, looking at the cameras and finding they look exactly like the last bunch.

" _Firing flare!"_

I see the counter go down again, but—

"Leaf One, new missile type! Radar jamming ineffective, launch a heat flare!"

" _Shit—!"_

She shoots off another flare, but that's one wasted out. They got after the heat flare, allowing Reinhardt some breathing room as she lines up another shot. But those were precious seconds lost that she could have been aiming.

"Enemy moving, she's trying to close the distance!"

Reinhardt takes advantage of the lack of firing and lines up another shot, waiting until the last moment our calculations tell her she can get out of the cannon's arc. One shot, two sh—

I see our shields take a massive hit. Shit, the cannons—

"Lisarene!"

"Working on the new data!"

I bit my lips, realizing that Reinhardt was treating that information as fact.

"Leaf One—"

" _I got sloppy, moving away!"_

Another swarm of missiles, this time we can't tell what they are. Since Reinhardt opted to stay put and stabilize herself for the shots, there's not as much time for her to take them out.

"They're…" I mutter, seeing some of the missiles go wide away from her, looking like…! "Leaf One, behind you! Flares are going to be ineffec—"

I'm interrupted by several explosions ringing out as Reinhard tries to boost away, but she gets sandwiched between the missiles.

"Manually guided rockets!" I hiss out. "Those aren't seekers! Watch yourself!"

"Confirming that there's no visual difference between them!" Lisarene shouts.

"Leaf One, we can't determine by sight what they are, stay on your toes."

I quickly look at the battlefield, trying to estimate what to do. Too many angles for attack… so…

"Leaf One, stick to the walls."

" _What_ walls _?!"_ Reinhardt shouts back over the comms.

"The shields for the arena will function as a wall! She can't fire missiles into the crowd to swing around you! Limit the amount of areas she can attack from!"

" _Gah, alright!"_

Reinhardt decides to turn tail and speed for the wall, another swarm of missiles coming for her. They're a lot faster than her, so she ends up having to turn around have the shoulder gun open fire before sticking to the wall.

"Keep an eye on her, try to keep it so there's no way to get behind you. Your gun can only fire in so many directions!" I suddenly see a _lot_ of signatures. "Looks like she's unleashing the whole armada! Fire flares and keep on the move!

Reinhard dashes back, her gun opening fire as she launches both a heat flare and radar chaff to get rid of some of the missiles. However, it looks like we've got a lot of manuals being controlled by the enemy as more than fifty percent are unaffected.

"Watch the cannons!"

She narrows manages to dodge one, but not the other, taking another big hit to her shields. However, it's a price well worth paying to keep from eating that full barrage of missiles.

" _Kazuma, I don't think I can keep up like this!"_

I close my eyes and try to think about what I would do here. But the problem here is the area is limited. The enemy can keep firing and getting close is dangerous. With every meter Reinhardt closes in, she shaves off precious seconds that could be spent shooting off a missile blast.

...but…

...those guided missiles, the manually guided ones, she needs time to set those out and guide them. If Reinhardt is too close, then she'll be forced to rely on close quarters.

I take a look at the counters. Three heat flares. Two radar jamming chaff countermeasures.

Can we make it in time?

Well, we don't have much of a choice.

Are those missiles guided by visuals, too? I would consider taking to the sky and trying to blind her, but then she could just use a visor and eliminate that threat.

What path to take…

"Lisarene, give me our top speed should we purge the shoulder unit and the sniper rifle."

"Kazuma, I know what you're thinking—I don't know if you'll be fast enough to outspeed the missiles."

"We don't know need to outspeed them," I say as I see Reinhardt continuing to struggle. "Only out maneuver them. Those missiles still fly like conventional targets. They can't change directions on a dime, unlike an AC or an IS. So give me our top speed."

"...it might be enough."

I nod. "Leaf One, you're not going to like it."

" _What do you have for me?"_

"Purge sniper rifle and gun shoulders after this next barrage. We're going in." I say, using the 3D display to highlight the path she's going to take based on how fast those guns can turn. "Those missiles won't be able to follow you if you shift out of the way fast enough and at the right time. Considering you'll be down to just down to a side arm and knife, you'll be almost able to hit maximum acceleration and speed. Essentially, wait until a critical moment until the missiles can't adjust enough before boosting."

" _You've got to be crazy. But if it's the best you got."_

I see Reinhardt following the path I showed her, the cameras showing the blue ripples of the shield walls flaring up as she rides the 'wall' of the shield, opening fire in a brief gap. She only manages to get off two shots before another barrage comes out for her.

"Purge set…" I mutter, knowing this is where we make it or break it. She fires off two more flares, the radar chaff and heat flares doing their work. As I suspected, mainly guided missiles this time around.

I take a look at their positions again. Our enemy is roughly at midpoint of her half of the field, floating ten meters above the ground. Reinhard is at the same position going across the field, but stuck to the far left wall. I see the missiles coming in… they shouldn't be able to adjust soon…

"Now!"

I see the labels immediately fizzle off the display, her sniper rifle and shoulder gun falling off, the two pieces of metal falling to the ground as she suddenly accelerates, the rockets unable to turn fast enough. They strike the wall, causing the shields to flare up to defend the audience.

Her thrusters begin hitting their limits as she takes out her sidearm and knife, tracing an arc in the sky. She goes up and over, sticking to the barrier the whole time, giving her precious seconds to keep delaying how long it takes for every missile to get to her. My path has her go through the center of the arena, right at the top, so the sun is right above her. I see on the cameras that our enemy takes a brief second to put on her visor, costing her another moment that lets Reinhardt cross the distance.

With the sudden boost of speed, she's not even able to use the cannons so much anymore. With another two seconds, Reinhard is quickly shortening the gap between them.

Another barrage. The last of our chaff countermeasures goes off just like that, and now we're down to one heat flare. There's plenty of guided missiles though—

—but they seem to go haywire.

"By God, she did it, the crazy girl!" Lisarene shouts from the side. I realize that in that split second Reinhardt had used up her last heat flare, turning to aim it right into her opponent's face. Even with the visor protection, it still must have been disorienting, and the guided missiles simply fly off before they start to swoop back on Reinhardt.

But it's too late. She's already in range. Reinhardt can move faster, so the enemy risks hitting themselves too much.

With a single blow, Reinhardt slams down into her opponent, sending them into the ground. Her enemy was utilizing radial shielding it seems, as Reinhard is unable to go in for the grapple.

"Behind you!"

Reinhard doesn't need to be told twice and immediately moves out of the way, with our opponent eating one of her own rockets. Reinhardt then fires her pistol again—

"Radial shielding down!" Must've taken it off to give her some more room with the rockets, plus it means that now Reinhardt actually has to hit her rather than just the air around her.

With that, our pilot moves in with her knife, aiming right for the neck. It's like a brutal show as she quickly latches onto our bulky opponent and tries to jam the knife into a vital point over and over again. Her opponent manages to shove her off a few times, even going as far as to use all of her thrusters to slam the two of them into the wall—costing us shield points—but Reinhardt persists.

"Don't let her get away!"

Reinhardt doesn't need to be told twice. Every time our opponent tries to boost away, Reinhardt, almost like a crazed animal, throws herself onto her due to the difference in acceleration.

It's not pretty at all. It really does look like a brutal struggle to survive. No more rockets or guns. Reinhardt just keeps trying to stab her opponent while her enemy continually fends off the knife being driven in in a showcase of hand to hand combat.

Reinhardt brings the knife down to her opponent's neck for a stab. Her opponent tries to brush off her arm and does so successfully, but then Reinhardt just brings up her sidearm and empties it into her face before it's batted aside. No point defenses, though? I'm surprised.

" _Gah, Cadenza!"_

Looks like she's not used to bringing the knife out.

I see Reinhardt's face flash smugly for a second on the cameras as she doubles her pace with the knife, clearly showing dominance with the weapon. I'm sure her opponent thought that bringing the knife out would even the playing field, but unless she was really ready to fight with it, it was only going to hinder her.

The buzzer goes off as Reinhardt smacks aside her opponent's lunge with her pistol, utilizing its heavy weight to shift her attack away before using the opening for a final stab to the neck.

"Congrats, Leaf One. Managed to overcome a Representative Pilot today. Good work. Extraction point is being relayed to you" I say as the crowd is momentarily stunned for a second before applauding. Heh, guess everything was in favor for the Reps to win. "Come home to us."

" _Will do, Operator…"_ Reinhardt says between pants.

"Well, color me surprised. I didn't think that tactic was going to work." Yumemi-sensei says with a chuckle. "Though I still think having Lisarene is cheating."

"Just using the resources our class has at our disposal, sensei." I say with a cheeky grin. "The rules only state that a pilot must have an Operator. There are no further rules about what resources an Operator can use other than banning interfering with the other Operators' workstation. This is a battlefield, after all. Every tool must be used to its fullest extent. Especially because we are disadvantaged by not having the best weaponry."

"You're correct, but I imagine that the others classes might not be so happy to hear about this."

"Well, as long as you don't say a word, I think we'll be fine."

She gives a snort at that as Reinhardt comes flying in, with Mei helping direct her down and assisting her getting out of the suit. I get up from my chair and sign off the Operator booth, walking for the door. It slides open and I'm immediately greeted with Mei's loud cheering and congratulations for Reinhard as the latter looks up at me.

Mei's mood goes down significantly, but I walk down the stairs and face up to Reinhard.

"Good work."

"A-ah, yes, thanks." Reinhardt says with a nod.

"Sorry to make you do something insane." I say, with Mei backing away. "But it was the only way forward as I could tell."

"Mhm. Well, we won, so thank you."

I bite my lip and nod. "...go hit the showers, Reinhardt."

She gives a small smile. "Alright. Until the next battle, then. Thanks for the help, Operator."

"Just doing my job."

With that, Reinhardt walks off, with Mei trailing behind her. Guess we still don't have everything patched up between us, she still seems a little tense around me. But I'll take it.

Well then, I suppose I do have to prepare for the next match. Though the next match up is fairly interesting. Seems like Orimura's taking to the skies again. Let's see if you're any good.

* * *

 **So, that was fun. Some brief humor at the start with Lisarene, sort of showing off what kind of person she is. Then, we get into Nomida's scene where Weiss is a little more forceful, sort of imposing his belief on her.**

 **I felt that them being pushed to talking was a bit rushed, but I think it was fine because of how fast something like that would spread and their teacher getting word of it. So, she pressures Weiss to go, with Weiss going since it was an implied order and also he wanted to know about Nomida.**

 **Nomida's backstory comes to light, wherein she's not the one who's supposed to be the pilot. Weiss gets some pretty heavy guilt to that, exacerbating his beliefs about what happened if he had won. Nomida and Weiss make up, mainly because I thought Nomida was the type that when she realizes why people did something to her, she'd be more accepting of it, especially with what Weiss told her.**

 **The matches begin the day after that, with some friction between Weiss and Reinhardt, although she still follows through as he's keeping to his word to guide her. All in all, I think this chapter wasn't bad. I had some fun writing the battle scene, especially where Reinhardt ditches the sniper rifle to go knife someone. Of course, knowing that the class tournament has begun, I think you can all anticipate what's about to come next.**

 **Hehehe, I do have plans. But they take so long to execute aaaaaa—**

 **Again, sorry for it taking so damn long to get out. Junior year is a hellhole, but I should have some time to write over my extended break! Let me know what you guys think, if the few months away have really rusted my style and I need to spend some time getting it back together, or if it's still chugging along nicely. Seeya next time.**


	7. In Time of Need

**Hey all! This one came out pretty quick but I had a lot of it already written. I was originally going to post it around New Year's, but then I had to start packing for classes and now classes have started again so blegh. I'm going to definitely try to update more often, or at least more than once every three-friggin'-months (lol). Anyways, as usual, REVIEW REPLY TIME, GOOOOO!**

 **BrokenLifeCycle:** Ah, good, thanks for letting me know. Sometimes I never really know how long to drag out particular conflicts. Like, I've got a good feeling for story-wide developments (such as Weiss, and what stages he'll be at in particular parts of the story), but for the building blocks of other characters it gets tricky. Also, thanks for the feedback on the battle scene, and thanks for reading!

 **ItzABlueWulf:** Oh, thanks! Unfortunately the AC hasn't gotten to appear as much as I'd like, haha, but hopefully I can change that. Thanks for stopping by!

 **Hierakles:** Well, I guess it would be incredibly frowned upon and they'd probably end up changing the ruleset, but there's probably rules in the school already about not assaulting other students (lol). Then again people are just straight up allowed to fight Tatenashi in the LN to try to dethrone her as president so hell if I know XD But, nice creative loophole that I definitely didn't add a line to reference later on.

 **Grinja:** Haha, yeah, I might have overplayed that a bit but it felt like an interesting reversal. Weiss probably doesn't really care though as long as it doesn't get in his way in terms of shipping, but the headache probably comes from Mei who likes to bug him about it. Anyways, thanks for reading!

 **Kerlongsj Evert Orlejov:** Well, I thought that the whole "dominating Weiss" thing also comes from the society of the IS as well. Weiss is clearly a noncomformist, so there's a bit of "putting him in his place" fantasy to them. Also for the fight scenes, I'm experimenting with a slightly new style since Weiss is just an observer. I've tried to write some later fight scenes from his perspective as practice and they feel a bit weaker in terms of writing. As for Mei being a bit softer, I think it was partially some development/hinting at her, since Weiss has also cited her as the reason he's still alive, hinting that maybe she's not as deep into the whole business as he is. With the fight at the end though, I also feel it ended a bit too quickly, haha. Anyways, thanks for the feedback, I'll try to keep the fight scenes interesting even for when they're in Weiss' PoV. Thanks for your review!

 **DDXIII:** Ah, that's probably because I have kinda shitted on Ichika in this story, but that might be because Weiss really does look down on him. As for Ichika being like Shirou with his ideals, it's partially because we haven't seen Weiss be forced to either stick to his guns or throw away his ideals. I also didn't want this story to dip too much into harem territory, so the romantic aspect is toned down save for some teasing (mostly by Mei towards Weiss about the other girls). As for what appears, I don't know if I want to include White Glint or some of the other pilots in say, AC4/4a, but there have been references to the other companies already (in Chapter 2, Weiss/Lisarene talk about BFF possibly partnering with Dunoa and Interior Union's parts consuming too much power for an AC). I do want to put in more battle with the AC, but due to the nature of the story it's a bit difficult to find parts to put them in at this stage, but I promise you I am planning to include them. Thanks for reading!

 **Alright, that's all of the reviews! Let's get this chapter started!**

* * *

 **Chapter 7:** In Time of Need

* * *

"Um…"

"Hm?"

I look up and see Reinhardt looking uncharacteristically nervous, her hands behind her back and looking off into the distance. She moves her right hand to her mouth, clearing her throat.

"Ahem, I…"

I look at her straight in the eyes, causing her to falter.

"Agh, I… dammit, this was supposed to be easy."

Reinhardt lets out a groan as she leans into the wall, hanging her head.

"I think I know what you want to say. It's fine."

"No, I have to say it! I won't let myself get off the hook that easily!"

She hits her cheeks with both hands, taking a breath before bowing deeply.

"I'm sorry for my actions these past few days! Please accept my apology, Kazuma-san!"

"You don't need to apologize, anyone else would've done the same." I say with a shrug, getting up from my seat and pushing her shoulders so she stands back up straight. "Besides, I was in the wrong, too. Should've taken Nomida's circumstances into account. What's with the sudden apology, though?"

"I… I thought you might have been a little annoyed during the match, but you were so professional. I doubted your advice, not because I thought it was wrong, but part of me wanted to just spite you, yet you didn't seem to do that at all, so I… I thought I would attempt to repair the bridge I nearly burned between us!"

Reinhardt turns away, shaking her head. I try not to laugh, seeing another side of her.

"W-what's so funny?"

"Just seeing your unsure side amuses me. For someone who's usually very headstrong, seeing you bashful about things is an odd thing. Regardless, I wasn't going to hold it against you. You're a good friend to Nomida, though I found it interesting you went to her."

"I… well, forgive me for thinking I could act as a medium between her and you. While you are direct and honest, not everyone can bear it, you know?"

"I suppose." I say, starting to walk away, Reinhard following me. "That was a mistake on my part, in dealing with her, but my lesson will not change and I won't apologize for imparting that truth on her. Anyways, another match today, right?"

"Yes. We'll be up against either Orimura or Huang, depending on who wins."

I nod, closing my eyes. "A difficult match regardless. While Orimura isn't the best pilot, I've heard that his unit has superior speed to even the Blue Tears unit. Putting distance between the two of you will be incredibly difficult, forcing you to rely on knives. A knife against a sword is a poor matchup."

"That is true, but you'll come up with something, right?"

I snort. "I can't come up with miracles every time, Reinhardt."

"Well, I'll be trusting you to try."

"Look at you two, all chummy again."

I stop as Mei leaps from behind, putting an arm on both of our necks. "Cayden."

"On your way to the Operator booths? Or maybe a little secret bit of alone time~? The stands are packed right about now, so no one would notice if you two got a little frisky in that _tight_ piloti—GUH!"

I don't even hesitate to light whack Mei on the back of the head.

"Cayden, I know you were a little more physical than most, but I think Reinhardt has some standards." I take a look at our resident sniper, who coughs as she clears her throat, clearly a little flushed.

"Ahem, yes. I am a little disappointed in you, Cayden."

"Awww." She flashes a smile. "But still, you two were taking so long to get back, Yumemi-sensei sent me looking for you two."

"I was taking a break from a walk. It's a long-ass walk to the bathroom."

"I was just looking for a vending machine, the drinks in the stands are expensive."

"Uh-huh." Mei gives us both a nod, as if to say 'I won't say anything' before walking up ahead. "Anyways, you two better hurry up. The matches are about to begin again."

"Well, shall we go, Reinhardt?"

The sniper nods, falling into step with me. The two of us take the ten minute trek back to the Operator booth, where she waves goodbye before taking the stairs down to the piloting area.

"Took you long enough to use the bathroom." Yumemi-sensei says as I get back into my seat.

"It was a hike. Lisarene, Stoneson, I miss anything during the match I walked out of?" I ask. Stoneson wasn't with us last match, but I reached out to her seeing as she's going to be the backup in the event I'm out, so I want her to know what it's like in a live action, real time environment.

"U-um, Class C and E will be advancing as well in the freshmen year."

"Peachy. Lisarene, you got the data on 'em?"

I notice she's currently working on a phone and has what look like four chat clients open on her display.

"Working on it, but it's kinda rough when you're on a limited timeframe. I've got what we saw in the matches themselves, but might not be enough."

"Understood, do what you can."

Yumemi gives an amused huff as I continue to give commands as if it's an operating center. Meanwhile, I see Reinhardt reevaluating her weapons down below, with Cayden giving her some pointers along with Nomida. I try to pay attention to the match, but it's evident that we're likely going to be up against Huang.

"Lack of blind spots, difficult to find an opening, though if Reinhardt can stay out of her range, that's fine. But then again, that unit is much faster than us." I mutter.

"Reinhardt-san has the disadvantage here due to the open nature of the arena." Stoneson says from the side. "I think um, if she was in a city environment, she'd probably have an easier time."

"What makes you say that?" I say, knowing what the answer is but wanting to hear it from her.

"Well, there's… the issue with um…" Stoneson taps a few keys. "With _Shenlong_ is that it's really bulky with those shoulder units. Those swords are also bulky as well. In an enclosed area, Reinhardt-san could easily trap her or prevent her from advancing…"

"Good answer." I say, turning back towards the battle. "This whole 'open air' business is a real pain in the ass. Alcott's _Blue Tears_ could at least keep up due to its drone units."

"However, open air is a possibility." Yumemi-sensei says from the side. "An IS could be used to establish air supremacy, in which case you are fighting in the open air."

"Then the counter would be another IS that has equipment made for anti-air, made to exploit the weaknesses of open air combat while having equipment for the latter stage of engagement on the ground, most likely also with an escort. Solo operatives are incredibly rare, are they not, Yumemi-sensei?"

"Indeed, but what would you rather have—an IS unit that can fight your enemy's aerial supremacy head to head and prevent aerial losses or an IS unit made for taking those types down?"

"Have we already begun engagement? If we have not yet begun engagement, the former. I will use them as a threat to an aerial attack. If we have already begun engagement, it is likely we have lost aerial supremacy and need to get it back, necessitating the latter. My escort would only be sitting ducks if I am too focused on removing the enemy IS."

Yumemi-sensei nods, seemingly pleased at this answer.

"Regardless, you should not dismiss open air combat so quickly. It is a possibility, one you should not throw out."

"Some variety would be good, though."

"Heh, take it up with the school budget."

"That's not a battle I'm winning anytime soon."

Yumemi heartily laughs at this.

"I don't think that's a battle any of us can win."

"Ah yes, the budget. Truly an enemy most fearsome." I say, logging back into the Operator terminal and readying myself for whatever comes after this match.

After about ten minutes, the match between Orimura and Huang begins, with Orimura coming out Hangar Two and Huang coming out of Hangar Four. I watch carefully, wondering what the weapons on Shenlong are. Hmmm…

The battle begins, with Orimura at least looking like a semi-competent pilot this time around. However, once again he's at an incredible disadvantage and his lack of knowledge about how to truly use his unit rears its head again. With no other weapons other than his sword, Huang simply takes potshots at him and he can't close the distance due to their firing rate.

Or perhaps, he is approaching this with the wrong mentality. What Orimura _should_ do is accept he will have to take some damage in order to force a close range battle. However, his enemy also has incredibly massive swords, so frankly engaging in a prolonged melee will not be good for him.

In short, the only way he can win this is to accept he'll have to take some damage, likely by attacking her weaker point while getting hit with those cannons, and finish the battle in a single stroke.

"Lisarene, got anything for me?"

"Judging from what I can see and what they're saying back and forth, looks like it's some sort of air cannon. Virtually zero blind spot too, based on the recorded firing trajectories and what I think the weapon might be using. Might be why he's not charging in, not exactly sure if that'd screw up your trajectories or how much turbulence or interference that causes your flight path."

"I see."

I've never dealt with a weapon like that before. No AC ever came equipped with it. Thus, I'm unable to come up with a strategy to handle it right away. However, if we maintain the distance advantage, we shouldn't have to worry about it.

"Give me the range."

"Range isn't as long as our sniper rifle though, but I'm pretty sure we don't want to engage in midrange with that."

"Got it."

Still though, Orimura at least doesn't look like a flailing monkey this time around. He's got a bit more control in his movements, but it's still amateur at best. However, he's at least _learning_ , which I will give him credit for—oh, that's Ignition Boost.

"Lisarene?"

"Confirming Ignition Boost."

A technique wherein you spike your acceleration and use it to get behind your opponent. However, it's one of those things people say only works once, since once you know your opponent can do it, you'll be on the lookout for it.

To which I say, that's frankly a load of horseshit. What necessitates that I must go exactly behind my opponent every single time? Is it not possible to feint using it but only go a quarter of the way, thus leaving my opponent more open? Then again, our units don't have the specs for it, so I can't test it. It does seem silly that people say such a technique will only work once.

Either way, Orimura nearly got a decisive blow in with his laser sword, but to Huang's credit, she moved out of the way enough that rather than ending the fight instantaneously, she only took a hefty amount of damage to her shields. Or so I would assume, judging by the fact she looks angry. It's leaving her quite open. Hmph.

Well, Orimura, credit where credit is due. You've at least learned how to fight an opponent well.

"So we're stuck to fighting a long range battle, huh… it's going to be rough keeping that range. Lisarene, mind getting a calculation for its effective range? I want it on the display for when she's in the danger zone."

"I'll see what I can do."

"Than—"

All of us immediately seize up as the lights go red. I hear screaming through the speakers and immediately check the cameras. A large, black behemoth of a machine is in the arena, with Huang and Orimura stopping their fight. On my display is also big red text reading EMERGENCY DECLARED - ARENA SHIELD BREACHED. The cameras show everyone evacuating or at least… trying to evacuate. The doors out of the arena aren't opening.

"Everyone, out." Yumemi-sensei says, with Stoneson going for the door. "...Stoneson-chan, what's the matter?"

"It's um…" she takes a step away from it. "It's locked. I can't open the door. It's not responding to my card."

Yumemi narrows her eyes before going to the door and trying it out. She then swipes her ID card through, but it doesn't work.

"Pilots, check in!" I say through the microphone, seeing if I can reach the hangar while the screams of panic from the students echo out on the speakers due to the cameras we have in the room watching the arena.

" _What the hell is going on?!"_

"Give us a few moments, we'll try to figure it out."

Yumemi goes over to another terminal and hits a few buttons. "It looks like we're in lockdown. No one goes in, no one goes out. Someone's in control of the system. Not even teacher credentials can get through to issue commands."

"Shit." I mutter.

The situation is bad. Two pilots in the arena, both damaged due to fighting each other. Unknown enemy, likely full powered. Locked down, no one can get in or out, so backup and evacuation is impossible for now. We haven't gotten any communications from the other hangars, so either everyone's in shock or unable to communicate. It's also likely that Orimura Chifuyu, who would be the school's top operative, is likely trapped somewhere as well. Even if she has an IS, it will take her time to break into places due to this lockdown.

In short, we're all up shit's creek.

Or at least, we would be if no one took charge. However, I have a rough familiarity with everyone's skillsets here. This isn't as bad as anything I've seen before. Someone just needs to start directing what to do.

"Yumemi-sensei!"

"Kazuma-kun?"

"Requesting permission to do whatever necessary."

It'll definitely be easier that way. However, she gives me a look that asks if I really just asked that. The silence hangs in the air for a brief second before…

"Do what you need."

"Good. Lisarene, you seem good mechanics, how good are you at checking wires?"

"Might be able to pull something, why?"

"See if you can break into the door's controls. I don't care if you have to rip out the electronics or break things, get it open. Reinhardt, I need you to hit the windows here, separating the operator booth from you guys. Break a way open."

"I could just force open the door to the hangar from this room though." Lisarene comments from the side.

"I need you out there opening the doors to the arena and breaking the students out while we wrestle control back. Reinhardt, on my signal, break a window and give us a path out. Yumemi-sensei, Lisarene, Stoneson, back of the room, now!"

Everyone glances at each other for a brief second before moving to the far side of the room. Reinhardt flies up to the Operator booth, knife drawn.

"Five seconds after I get to the wall, hit it, understood?"

" _Read you loud and clear."_

With that, I quickly run away from the terminal, hearing the glass shatter multiple times over.

"You're clear!"

An entire window panel is gone as soon as Reinhardt shatters it, but we have an entryway into the hangar.

"Lisarene, get to cracking the door open. Reinhardt, bring Cayden up here!" I say, going over to the terminal and carefully scraping away the broken shards of glass. I select Hangar Two and Four for comms. "Hangar Two and Four, this is Operator Kazuma, do you copy? Hangar Two and Four, repeat, do you copy?"

No reply.

"Looks like they're blocking communications." Yumemi says. "I doubt they're just not answering."

"Isn't it a direct line?" I ask Yumemi.

"No, there's no direct line of communication from hangar bay to hangar bay."

"Shit."

But…

"...then why can I still contact Reinhardt…"

The enemy is jamming communications from hangar to hangar, but not hangar to unit. From the cameras, Orimura is still talking, so…

"If they're just blocking those frequencies, they don't know the frequencies that the private comms are on…" I say as Mei comes through the window. "Either that, or they're intercepting our comms from the system itself."

"Not getting anything on the general access channels?"

I try doing a general broadcast, but I get nothing in return.

"Figures." Mei says, taking my seat.

I quickly process everything that I've known so far. We're locked out of commands, but we can still access the comms. This reeks of something fishy. If the enemy wanted to completely shut us down, they'd completely lock us out of everything entirely. However, they left the comms open, so Orimura and Huang are likely talking to their Operators, judging by the cameras showing them not always talking like in a conversation.

It means that likely, they're not relying on a lockout of systems to prevent communication. Likely they're doing some sort of jamming that eliminates the need for a total system lockdown, maybe situated on the new arrival. Alright. Let's move.

"Reinhardt, help me down."

"Eh?"

"I have a plan." I say, climbing on top of the terminal. "Lisarene, how's the door?!"

"Working on it, I'm using limited tools here! You got any repair kits down there?"

"There should be one down there, it's usually done in case normal equipment breaks for mass production units." Mei says as she gets to work on the terminal.

"Right. Reinhardt, bring me down, then bring that up to Lisarene. Once you break open the door, I want you to break your way to the other hangars first so they have an escape route and then arenas and force open the doors."

"Why am I going?"

"Because you have an IS and can transport Lisarene faster that way. Yumemi-sensei, is there a manual override for the hangar door?"

"You're not going out there." She says as Reinhardt takes me into her arms, bringing me down.

"Taking that as a yes. Cayden, analysis on the unknown unit, get me a weak point. The enemy is also likely jamming our communications since they weren't totally shut down even with the system lock. See if you can isolate where it's jamming frequencies as well or any interesting components you can see from the outside. See if you can contact the other bases as well without comms. I don't care if you have to use Morse code, let them know we're okay and help is on the way."

"Understood!"

I go over to the case Reinhardt's sniper rifle was stored in and open it up, giving it a heave.

"You can't be serious." Reinhardt says immediately.

"Y-you'll die!" Nomida yells with her.

"And if you look at the footage, Orimura and Huang are currently getting their asses kicked due to the latter not being used to fighting unknown opponents and possibly having a shitty Operator not helping her and the former has a clear lack of combat expertise. I'm here to even the odds and possibly turn the tables if what I'm thinking is right. Reinhardt, go to Lisarene." I load in a magazine, grunting at its weight. "Nomida, we're finding a manual override to the door."

Reinhardt gives me a pleading look, but when I return a look of conviction, she caves and nods. Nomida tries to stop her, asking for backup, but Reinhardt doesn't stay.

"You… you're going to die…!"

I put the gun back in the case and turn around to face Nomida. I put my hands on her shoulders and look her in the eyes.

"I swear I will not die, Nomida-san. Believe me when I say this. My duty is to fulfill the objective and return home."

She holds my gaze for a few seconds before looking away, nodding.

"Yumemi-sensei, everyone's on board and you said do whatever I need, I'm heading out."

" _You're a goddamn moron, that's what you are."_ she says over the PA system for the hangar. _"...don't get yourself killed."_

"Someone has to do it." I say, taking the sniper rifle again. "Nomida, find the manual override and open the hangar door a bit. Cayden, what are we looking at?"

" _I think I've found the communications jammer on it or at least, there's definitely some sort of anomaly that doesn't look right! It's on the head, looks like a small two pronged antenna. The unit itself doesn't seem to be shielded, but neither of the pilots can get a hit on it. Might be armored."_

"Peachy."

"U-um, I found it!"

I look over and see Nomida by a lever, though there's a padlock over it. I hoist the sniper rifle over and smash down with the butt of the rifle, breaking off the padlock.

"Cayden, radio silence unless you're alerting me to something! Nomida, open it just a little bit on my signal, enough for me to crawl underneath with my rifle. I will let you know when to close the door."

"R-right!"

I get into position and go prone. It's unshielded over there… I'll be in the most danger.

Taking a calming breath, I nod.

"Go!"

The door slowly churns open.

" _Manual override engaged! Hangar shields going offline!"_ Mei reports over the PA system.

"Stop the door." I say as it comes up just enough for me to crawl under. Nomida puts the lever to the neutral position and the clanging stops. I slowly crawl my way out, rifle in my hands.

It's the longest few meters of my life. I can feel my heart pounding, its noise like a drum smashing into my ears. I'm up against a live IS on foot, or at least, that thing looks enough like some monstrous IS. Most people would rather commit suicide than do this. The noise is practically deafening, too. I can hear everyone start screaming and shouting, especially from the upper stands as they see me.

A few more breaths and the slowest two minutes of my life later, I find myself at a good firing position. I quietly set up perch and look over the arena.

Sun's not in my direction, so no lens reflections hopefully. I already know the weather conditions from looking earlier today for Reinhardt, so I'm already doing the calculations for hitting the shot.

I look down the scope and try to spot what Cayden was describing. I see you...

There's the comm jammer… or at least what we think it is.

Alright, so you can move a little bit. Pretty bulky, clumsy movements. Reminds me of an inexperienced tank AC pilot.

But it's fine, I'll sit here and wait for the right time.

I count the seconds as they go by as I continue to watch the movement of the behemoth. Thirty, sixty, ninety, hundred twenty…

...six minutes go by.

"Negh…"

I grit my teeth as what might be that synchronization sickness from using the previous 4034's unit rears its ugly head again. I wasn't originally a sniper, but I picked up the skills due to my nerves being hooked up to his unit for so long, but it's giving me these damn flashbacks…

—Shanghai. Twentieth floor. Eight mile per hours east. Cloudy day.—

I'm ejected from the memory almost as fast as I'm thrown into it. Dammit, shit… not now. Just a little longer…

I force myself to take a few breaths, knowing that I can't allow myself to succumb until I finish disabling the jammer. Okay, come on, keep counting...

...eight minutes go by.

I sharply inhale as the two get into position. I've seen this before. They're going to do another combination attack.

Orimura and Huang attack in perfect sync. The behemoth's large arms easily tank the massive swords _Shenlong_ has, as if it was made to counter it. Orimura tries to shoot in and go for another slice with his piercing blade, but nearly eats a laser that was perfectly set for him.

And at that perfect moment…

I squeeze the trigger. The sound of the sniper rifle cracking fills the arena, surprising everyone. Orimura and Huang stop in their tracks. The comm unit explodes as I confirm it's reduced to rubble. Perfect.

I fire again, taking advantage of the window. I aim for center mass. I have no confirmation on where it's core is, but I have a hunch. I'm not sure if it was successful.

And then it comes for me.

I know exactly what to do.

I don't bother with the rifle as I get up, turning around and sprinting away.

" _GET OUT OF THERE, WEISS!"_

"RUN FOR IT, KAZUMA-SAAN!"

I sprint as fast as I can, but that thing's a lot faster than I thought. I can hear its thrusters and what sounds like a laser charging behind me. Screams of horror fill the air as everyone watches me make the mad dash for my life.

"CLOSE THE DOOR, NOMIDA! DO IT!"

Make it…!

I can hear the door starting to come down. My window to escape is getting slimmer... !

I hit the deck, sliding across the metallic deck. I can feel the heat of the laser singing my hairs as I come underneath, turning the metal area behind me into molten waste as the door slams shut, locking behind me.

" _Shields up…!"_

"Ahh!"

Nomida shrieks as we hear the golem slam on the shields. I immediately grab her and run off to the side, hiding away in the darkness of the equipment.

"Everyone, get the hell out of here, we'll regroup with you!"

"I will not leave my stud—"

"I'll be right behind you, go!" I yell, cutting off Yumemi as we can hear the golem slamming onto the door before firing a beam again. "Nomida, I need you to stay quiet. Do exactly what I tell you and I promise you— _we will both survive._ "

What the hell did I do to piss this thing off, anyways?

* * *

 _ **Armored Hearts**_

* * *

Unknown to Weiss, while the golem was meant to capture Orimura Ichika, Weiss' first shot had not just taken out the comm unit, but the second one had also penetrated and blew out part of its reasoning circuits.

So, it was currently in the middle of a rampage and having locked onto the last known threat, it was now pursuing it. Even though the shields were in the way, it continued to pound away. And of course, with who was behind said golem, it had access to the camera network in the arena and had been able to identify him.

Without anywhere to run away, Nomida and Kazuma were stowed away in the dark corner, Nomida having fled into his arms for comfort. She was shaking, only kept partially still by Kazuma preventing her from moving further.

Outside, Ichika and company were hammering away at the golem as fast as they could—Alcott having joining them after Cayden alerted them to the manual override in the hangar and about breaking the operator booth windows as soon as the jamming was offline, but its armor made it difficult to penetrate any defenses. While they had trained in simulations, knowing that there were several people on the other side of that door and the thought of _what if they weren't fast enough_ was invading their minds, preventing the serenity of mind needed on the battlefield.

Their teamwork was suffering as a result, meaning a less effective offense on the enemy in question.

Every time it pounded on the shields, the hearts of the three pilots skipped a beat. Inside the hangar whenever that happened, Nomida would almost scream, but Kazuma would clap a hand over her mouth, preventing her from crying out.

She looked into his eyes, finding nothing but stern resolve.

She remembered his words, about needing to find something you could have the utmost strength for. She wondered—what gave him such resolve? What made him not waver when the enemy was right there when they had no weapons, no IS, and no escape? What had given him the courage to crawl out , unshielded, out into hell to take the shot that could reverse the situation?

Nomida felt safe in his embrace, even though she knew he was likely only doing it to restrain her.

" _Weiss, Weiss?!"_

The hangar PA suddenly had crackled to life, full of Cayden's panicked voice.

"Stay here."

Kazuma's voice resonated to the very core of her being to the point Nomida felt completely paralyzed even when he released her and came out of the shadows, ducking behind another pillar in the hangar as to remain hidden still. She wanted to reach out to him, saying "Don't go, you'll die!", "Stay safe!", and a manner of other things, but the words died in her throat. But part of her heart wanted to believe that Kazuma would be fine.

That the promise he made to her was true.

"Cayden, shield status."

" _Ah, hold on—yes, Hangar Two, I read you, but only for the moment! A break-in team is currently en-route to Hangar Three where we will establish a working base of operations. Hangar One has been compromised due to internal damage caused in order to break out. Two personnel trapped, Kazuma Weiss and Nomida Taigei. Shield levels at thirty three percent, that golem is doing a number on us and we can't divert extra power."_

Two thirds of the power that normally supplied the shields gone. The arena shields that were meant to safeguard the students could certainly take a beating, but a sustained offensive by a unit that exerted that much power had not been tested. For any exhibition type IS match, they'd be enough.

But for an opponent who wanted to kill, no defense could hold them.

" _Yes, ma'am. I understand. But I will not evacuate, not until the last moment possible. Kazuma, Nomida, can you hear me?"_

"Loud and clear!"

" _I can't leave them, Orimura-sensei. No one gets left behind if I can help it. Kazuma, catch!"_

Kazuma traced the thrown object in the air and caught it, finding a girlishly decorated cellphone. He pushed the lock button and found a picture of Reinhardt, most likely taken by herself, with a happy smile that he would've sworn he never saw before.

" _Reinhardt unlocked her cell for you, so don't go snooping, okay? This is going to be how we communicate with you. There's a new contact on there called 'Relay', do you see it? Type 'Kazuma reporting in' and send the text message."_

Kazuma did as he was told as he retreated back into the shadows with Nomida. After a few seconds, several messages came flooding back with ID tags.

 _DUN-REV-06: Message received, good to see you're safe, Kazuma.  
BYAKUSHIKI: We're using a text channel?  
BLUE TEARS: It seems so...  
SHENLONG: Hey, isn't it going to be slow having the Operator only talking by text?_

" _Kazuma, you can also call, this is just if you need to go silent."_

Kazuma hit the call button immediately, connecting to all the other units on the relay channel.

" _I don't know how you did it, Cayden-chan, but I think the school is going to want to know."_

" _Ehehe~ Well, it became a lot easier once Weiss took out the comms jammer, all we had to do was set everyone to the frequency of the mobile phone or something like that. Technical details later. How are you holding up, Weiss?"_

"Peachy. No guns, no escape, enemy bashing down the door. Nomida and I are still trapped in here. Cayden, see if you can break through the lockdown and at least get me a rifle. It might not be much help, but it should at least buy Nomida time to escape should they manage to break through. Break-In Team, status."

" _Lisarene is currently breaking into Hangar Three for us to establish a base of operations. I'm en route to Hangar One to extract you and Nomida to safety."_ Reinhardt replied.

"Copy that. Cayden, anything on our enemy?"

" _Incredibly heat resistant armor. I think I saw a weak point from the front but it means you're going to be looking right at its lasers. It looks like it's shielded as well, same heat resistance."_

"Aaaaand of course we lost the armor piercing rifle. Fuck."

" _Language, Kazuma~"_

"I think the situation calls for it. Alright, Outside Team, shield status. Give me percentages."

Fourteen, thirty seven, ninety four for Orimura, Huang, and Alcott. _Sounds about right_ , Kazuma thought as he nodded.

"Alright. I've got a plan. Cayden, status on getting me a gun?"

" _I'm working on it, but it's difficult to break this lockdown, I'm locked out of the systems entirely. We managed to… commandeer a laptop from the locker rooms, so I'm going to try to break in."_

"Going to assume I won't have one, then."

" _U-um, this is Stoneson, we're in Hangar Three and I'm signed in! Lisarene is currently working on getting the door to the hangar open but there looks to be some weapons around here and an IS suit prepped to go."_

 _Perfect._

"Cayden, how long are those shields going to hold?"

 _"I give it five minutes."_

"Lisarene, set the clock for five minutes."

" _Really busting my balls here, Kazuma!"_

"Save that comment for when you got 'em. If you don't make it in five minutes, that's fine, but it's going to get dicey. Operative Blue Tears, you see the sniper rifle I used? Confirm its status."

" _Didn't survive the fall!"_

"Fuck. Continue to try to open up a weak point, use coordinated attacks on a single point in its armor to try to break through. Lisarene, the instant you get it open, bring the IS unit in there over here!"

" _Can't make it through the hallways fast enough!"_

"I know, you'll cut through the arena."

" _Kazuma-san, you can't be serious!"_ Reinhardt yelled over comms. _"That means you'll have to open the hangar doors!"_

"Either way it's going to break through them. Unless you get here fast enough, it's the only way out. Not to mention it seems to have been locked to me. If I leave, it's coming with me. Cayden, gun!"

" _I've managed to piece together how it's locking me out, give me another two minutes! Shield status twenty eight percent!"_

Kazuma muted himself and turned to Nomida. "Nomida, listen to me carefully. Whatever you do, do not make a sound and do not move until Reinhardt comes here. Do you understand me? If you fail to do as I say, you may die. Nod if you understand."

Nomida's head slowly moved up and down. Kazuma gave her a nod back before unmuting himself. _"Reinhardt, when you arrive Cayden will direct you to Nomida's position. You are to extract her first. Lisarene, door."_

" _Breaking through it, this one's unlike all the others!"_

" _Shields falling to eighteen percent!"_

Kazuma tucked the phone inside his jacket before finding cover behind the catapult launcher, concealing his entire body. He took a deep breath, preparing himself as he heard the shields fell to ten percent.

A few more hits.

Soon the sound of attacks hitting the shield disappeared.

It was replaced by the hangar door being caved in.

"Nomida, quiet!" Kazuma commanded, and the girl obeyed. "Cayden, gun!"

" _Almost there…! Got it!"_

" _We've got the door to the suit open, just—"_

He saw a glow of purple from behind the door.

"CAYDEN, HIT THE DECK!"

His Operator obeyed immediately and rightfully so, or she would have been obliterated by the beam that tore through the hangar bay door and rocketed right for the Operator booth right through the windows they had smashed earlier. Kazuma ran forward as the gun case popped out of the ground. A basic M4A1, nothing fancy, but it'd have to do.

"Entering your firing zone, watch yourself!" Kazuma yelled as he opened fire on the golem, trying to score a hit

It lunged for him, trying to smash him. Realizing his opponent's lack of finesse, Kazuma leapt to the side, tucking into a roll well before it would attack him. He slid on the sleek metal surface, sliding away and avoiding death. However, Reinhardt's phone was not so lucky as it fell out of his pocket and skittered away before being crushed by the golem.

"Fire, fire, fire!" Kazuma yelled. "Aim for its weak point! Byaku, Shen, open a hole for Tears! I'll hold its attention!"

"You have to get out of here!" Orimura yelled.

"Ain't got nowhere else to go, back's against the wall without a choice!"

Kazuma rolled out of the way of another crushing dive, adrenaline pumping through his veins. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Reinhardt coming down, with Nomida coming out of the shadows to meet her. The latter of the two was quickly swept up and pulled to safety, meaning Kazuma no longer had to worry about non-combatants.

The most dangerous battle of his life was just beginning. The opponent might not have been the fastest, but a single hit was deadly enough.

 _With that much mass, a single hit means at least shattered bones. Assuming I even live the impact. The heat on those lasers is no joke, too. I need to move it though, those two bladers have no room to move here._

"CAYDEN, CATAPULT!"

He yelled, hoping his partner would hear him. The others echoed what he said over the comms.

That one word was more than enough. He positioned himself in the right area, trusting his partner absolutely.

The golem charged. Weiss dived, sliding underneath it at an angle that pushed him off to the side. As the golem landed, partially off balance due to its lunge…

...the catapult set off by Cayden was already coming, slamming it in the back and throwing it off more.

"FINISH IT!"

As it got up, the two bladers moved in, trying to keep it down despite the overwhelming strength of the brutish machine. Its thrusters fired off, its heat resistant armor fending off the constant barrage of Alcott's lasers.

" _Kazuma, jump off the platform! Someone's there to get you!"_

Kazuma heard Cayden yell it out over the PA as the golem smacked aside Shenlong and Byakushiki before engulfing Alcott in its blast. It turned to Kazuma again who took a breath.

Well, trust went both ways.

He made a sprint past the golem, avoiding its killer crash. Making a break for the end of the platform, he sprinted as fast as he could. Alcott tried to shoot the exposed front, but to no avail.

Entrusting his partner's advice, he leapt off without fear, with all three of the other pilots screaming as they thought they were about to witness Kazuma fall to his death.

But they were so focused on the golem they hadn't noticed another combatant enter the field.

"You two are insane." Yumemi huffed as she had dived and caught Weiss, pulling him away well before he was in danger of becoming paste. She wasn't loaded with any weapons, making her unit faster than the golem. "Cayden, Reinhardt, get ready to fire!"

" _Yes ma'am."_

" _Copy that, sensei."_

"Hold onto your teeth."

"Try me."

Avoiding another blast of a laser, Yumemi suddenly accelerated along the shield walls, causing students to scream when the purple laser hit the shields in front of them. But soon enough, she was pulling up right where they had left off.

They landed between the hangar entrance and the edge of the platform, the golem slowly turning towards them...

" _Checkmate."_ Came a cool voice that in no way sounded like it had come from the person speaking those words, all friendliness drained from it.

A second armor piercing gun went off. Yumemi's plan was complete.

Pull Weiss away from the platform for long enough for Reinhardt, who was maintaining radio silence until she was ready to fire, to first pull Nomida to safety and second get another gun since Cayden had broken through the lock. An armor piercing one, to be precise, ready to obliterate the enemy's weakpoint when it was exposed. By using the knowledge that Weiss' two shots worked, it was a gamble worth taking.

From her perch in the Operator booth, Reinhardt emptied everything she had into it. Precision shot after precision shot went off, destroying the main center. The golem fell over the edge, plummeting until it hit the ground underneath, creating a sizable crater.

"Alcott. Confirm kill." Yumemi said as she let Kazuma go, no longer having to shield him.

" _It's… it's not moving. I don't detect anything…"_

"Hangar One, Three, confirm reading."

" _Can confirm."_

" _R-right!"_

"Threat neutralized. Cayden, see if you can break control over the school systems, though the school should be moving in soon. Check for injuries. Kazuma, you're coming to the infirmary with me, _now._ "

"I am unharmed, ma'am."

"Infirmary. You, Cayden, and Nomida were all unshielded targets in the combat zone, you're all due for a medical examination. Cayden, I'll be with you shortly. Reinhardt, work with the others to clean this up and report to the infirmary immediately. As for you, Kazuma, stop resisting. We're going now."

* * *

 _ **Armored Hearts**_

* * *

"Oh thank God—"

"Didn't know harems were a get well gift." I say nonchalantly as I am immediately hugged by Cayden and Nomida, with the latter being more of a surprise. "I sustained no injuries so you can keep your panties on."

That earns me a smack from Cayden and an embarrassed shove from Nomida. From the side, Lisarene laughs and Stoneson simply blushes.

Reinhardt is a few feet away, her arms crossed.

"I still hold you're insane." she says, but I can hear the concern in her voice. "You… you're an idiot, you know that?"

"Someone has to do it." I fire back. "There's always going to be risk on the battlefield. Someone always has to take it. What were we going to do if I didn't take out the comms unit? Someone had to do it."

She looks away, back turned towards me. "What if… what if you had died?!"

"Then my death may have not been in vain as communications would have been opened back up and the enemy defeated." I say rather coldly, as if I didn't take my life into account. "It would've only been wasted if I hadn't done anything to the enemy. Don't get me wrong, I'd prefer to stay alive but I know the need for sacrifice."

Reinhardt's shoulders slump. "...I know."

She turns around and walks over, jabbing a finger into my chest. "But be a little more aware that we don't like seeing people put themselves into situations like that."

"Heh. I've told you all though, that I'm preparing you for the live battlefield. You'll see death, you know? It's inescapable."

Reinhardt smiles. "You know, Kazuma-san, it sounds like you're the pilot."

I give Mei a glance. "Well, Operators are in more danger than the pilot sometimes. If I can't find a good perch to observe the battlefield, I have to get in close. Maybe even defend myself. Knocking out an Operator means the pilot loses a second pair of eyes. Oh, and uh, sorry about your phone."

"I think a phone is a small sacrifice compared to losing a friend."

"Is that so?"

With that, I start walking away, everyone following me through the hallway. I look outside, seeing the setting sun filtering through the glass panes. It reminds me I lived another day.

"So, I assume we're all going to get some sort of therapy or treatment considering that today was hell. Probably a formal investigation too, considering we probably did at least a solid ten-thousand dollars' worth of damage today. It's on me though, I was the one who gave the command. Feel free to tell them that."

Everyone manages to have a laugh at that.

"How was it, then? Not you, Cayden, I know what you've seen. How was it? Being on a live battlefield. It wasn't a simulation. It wasn't a controlled environment. It wasn't an exhibition match. There were real consequences. I could have died. Nomida could have died. All of you could have died. In fact, everyone at this school could have died. How does it feel to have lived? How does it feel to know that it was possible? How does it feel to know you escaped death's jaws today?"

The girls are all silent at this, all of them quietly exchanging glances at one another as if to affirm their experience.

"It was…" Reinhardt starts off before gulping down. "It was terrifying. I… I had a map. I had a layout to follow to reach the operator rooms, but I… I didn't believe it. I kept thinking I had a faster way in. I kept thinking 'maybe if I make this left, it'll be faster', but I was always wrong. It's why it took me so long to get from hangar bay to hangar bay, I… I kept thinking I had to be faster. If I wasn't on time, everyone could've died… I… I'd come to a hangar bay full of corpses..."

Stoneson speaks up next. "M-mhm. I… I was really scared, even though I wasn't fighting. I couldn't do anything. Even if I could log into the operator booths, I was locked out of weapon selection and everything… Cayden was the one to break the lock too, so I-I-I felt so useless. I thought that maybe if I had just been better, maybe things would've turned out better. All I could do was pray. Pray that my lack of skill wasn't going to get everyone killed."

"I, uh…" Lisarene looks oddly flustered, turning away. "...screwed up a lot. The circuits on those doors weren't hard in hindsight, but I couldn't keep my hands from shaking. When I heard five minutes before the shields broke, hell, I… I don't want to say anything anymore."

Nomida is the last to speak.

"I… Kazuma-san, I didn't want to see you die! I wanted to stop you but you just went out there! I stopped thinking of everyone else in the arena and just thought you surely were going to die!"

She runs up to me, burying her head in my chest.

"I was so scared we were all going to die but then you ran out there like you wanted to die! I don't want to see anyone die, I… I…!"

I push her away, putting my hands on her shoulders.

"Someone has to die, though. Your enemy at times, cannot be reasoned with. You will have to kill them."

"I, I—"

"—know what you meant. You don't want to see the people you think should live die, other people be damned. If that's a hard truth to swallow, I'll help you with that too. It's a selfish thing, really. But knowing it makes things easier."

I look up at the others.

"That goes for the rest of you, too. I said it back during the first day. You'll be ready for the battlefield. It doesn't mean being happy with death. Be unhappy with it all you want. It's a cruel thing, stealing away the ones you love with no chance of getting them back. So fight. Fight until you can save others from all deaths other than a natural one.

"You're welcome to walk away now. I'm sure you didn't have an idea of what I meant back then, talking about the battlefield. But you know now, you've got a decent taste. But only a taste. This one was relatively bloodless, with shields and a unit that was unmanned. That's not always how it's going to go. So feel free, if you know this isn't the path you want to walk, to stop following after me. Anyways, I guess we better report to Yumemi-sensei now, wherever she is."

And to my surprise, every girl follows me.

Let's see how deep into hell you'll go.

As I suspect though, we're all thoroughly interrogated right afterwards. They take us all into separate rooms, but we all promise to meet up at the dining hall afterwards.

Fortunately, we were all absolved of any monetary responsibility for the damages that we caused as they were all in the name of defeating the opponent. I was lectured for taking such a risk, but I argued it was necessary.

Fairly standard trauma screenings. I figured that with my background it was unnecessary but they wanted to be sure I wasn't going to shoot up the place.

"Stay here. Someone else wants to talk to you."

"I thought I was done with the screenings."

Yumemi-sensei gets up. "I'm done."

I raise an eyebrow as the door opens, revealing Orimura Chifuyu.

"She just has some questions for you regarding the golem in particular."

I relax in my chair, putting a hand to my chin. "Knowing thy enemy in the event of a repeat? Understandable, but I think I said everything in my report to you, Yumemi-sensei."

"I know, but she wants to hear it herself."

"Alright." I say as Orimura takes a seat in front of me, Yumemi closing the door behind her. "Shoot."

"How did you determine where it's weakness was?"

"Cayden, functioning as an Operator, determined anomalies on the enemy and what might have been the jammer. We took a risk."

"Why didn't you do it?"

"I'd have done it myself but I was planning on being the sniper and every second would cost us."

"Knowing it was unshielded?"

"Watched the cameras."

"Realizing it was laser resistant?"

"Cameras and observation, along with Cayden's help and confirmation."

"Why did you decide on that rifle in particular?"

"Armor piercing rounds, figured it could punch through its defenses. It was also what we had available, which was fortunate."

"You weren't certain?"

"It was a risk worth taking."

The silence hangs in the air for a bit before Orimura pulls away. "I see. Thank you, then. I just wanted to confirm how you determined its weaknesses wasn't a fluke."

"If they come again, it is likely a new model would be used. In addition, I would recommend dedicated lines between the hangar bays in the event of emergencies."

"We're looking into it. Such an event was not foreseen."

I bite my tongue to avoid making any more comments. This kind of event really should have been seen. Even if it was unmanned, what if a country decided to go rogue? It's certainly a possibility. You'd have the perfect hostage situation. Proprietary technology, good pilots, the future of a nation all in your hands. Secure the teachers by locking them in, it's almost perfect.

What they didn't anticipate was me and a group of students having a set of skills that most people shouldn't. Disrupting the comms jamming with a well placed sniper shot. Breaking open doors by rewiring the electronic circuits. Being willing to cause damages like Operator booth windows. On their own the girls might not have thought of it (save for Cayden), but with me at the helm it became possible. I'm sure that if I wasn't there, Cayden would have figured it out too, though. But unlike me, she doesn't use as much raw 'force' in getting people to do things which is what was needed here. Those girls would have stalled or faltered, but because I forcefully told them to do something without room for question, they went through it.

"Is that all?"

"You are dismissed. The school may be in contact with you later to verify your story if something doesn't add up."

"Understandable." I say, getting up.

"Though I must say, based on the other reports you took leadership quite well."

"Someone had to. While Yumemi-sensei was also capable, it would be easier for the girls to listen to me as they knew me on a more personal level and understood me more."

"If I may ask, what do you think made them listen to you?"

"That I swore they would all come out of it alive." I say, and not a thing more, before leaving the room.

Judging by the lack of a follow up question, I assume she's placated with that answer. But the more important thing behind that answer is that they believed it. What good would those words be if they had no faith in my ability to carry it through?

Though, I am surprised that they believed in me so quickly. But when your back is up against the wall and you have a tiny bit of faith, miracles can happen.

Nomida is the first to greet me, apparently waiting outside the classroom. I reach out and she stiffens up at seeing my hand, but visibly relaxes when I pat her on the shoulder.

"I didn't say it earlier, but good job."

"But I…!"

"Followed through with the orders you were given and completed the mission. Commendable. Orders are orders, after all."

"Um…"

"Walk with me."

She follows slightly behind and to the side of me as we walk down the hall.

"So, you wanted to get stronger, yes?"

"M-mhm!"

"Have you decided what you want to fight for? What will let you disregard everything else if it means pursuing this one thing?"

Nomida pauses before saying "Yes".

"Good. You're going to need it. I know you asked why I did such a thing earlier, so I'll give you my answer."

I turn around as I come to a stop, Nomida bumping into me. She gives a yelp and backs away, but I grab her arm and pull her to about arm length's away from me, looking into her eyes.

"I'm not embarrassed about why I do it. You can keep your reason for fighting as close to your heart as you want. Maybe no one else will ever know it, but I don't mind telling you since it might help you realize why I can do the things I do."

I close my eyes for a second, recalling that man. The one who piloted _Orbital Static_ before me. The previous 4034. Weiss...

"I crawled out there today because I will claw my way to victory if it means keeping those who aren't ready to be on the battlefield off of it. I am well aware that not everyone is cut out for the battlefield. It's a hellish sort of place and to condemn someone to it is a terrible thing to do. So I will do everything I can do keep those who can't fight off of it."

...because it's my fault.

This would never have been a battlefield for you to fight on if I had only succeeded that day.

"K-kazuma-san, you're squeezing kind of…"

"A-ah."

I let go of Nomida's arm, realizing I must've been clamping down on her.

"...but if you insist on heading out to the battlefield…"

I turn around and put my hands in my pockets.

"...then it seems no words I say will keep you off of it. But it seems I can't stop you, so I'll just have to make sure you're someone who I wouldn't mind being on the battlefield."

"Y… y-yessir!"

I partially conceal a chuckle before talking. "Don't 'sir' me. Either way, why were you waiting for me?"

"Um, well… your talk with Yumemi-sensei was taking really long, so I waited. Everyone else is still waiting by the dining hall, but I wanted to be sure…"

"Ah, thanks. I guess it just had to deal with the whole crawling out there thing. Not like anyone other student here would've had the guts to do it, especially when you can see that two IS users are struggling to beat it. You weren't hurt, right?"

"I think you did more damage by crushing my arm…"

"Is that so?" I say before giving another small laugh, a bit surprised Nomida was able to make a joke like that. "Good. It means I can sleep easy tonight."

"Huh?"

"Just… the musings of a kid who used to be on the battlefield." I say as we pass by several students, some of which point at me and start whispering. I also see Orimura accompanied by the other two pilots passing by us. "If you had been harmed in any way, Nomida, I think it would be in my nightmares from now on."

"Bu… but…"

"You might just be an acquaintance, but I swore you were all going to live. Any injury could have threatened that. Even now, I might be racked with the guilt that I wasn't good enough."

"You don't have to think that!"

Her sudden outburst makes me stop in the middle of the hallway, but it's also partially that Nomida grabs my arm.

"I… I'm alive, right? Even if I was injured, I was… I'm still alive, so you don't have to think about it. As long as I'm alive, you…"

This girl is so much stronger than one might be led to believe. I'm forced to give a deep sigh and then laugh, much to her confusion.

"Kazuma-san…?"

"You just caught me off-guard, is all. Alright, I'll take your word for it. I'll try not to let it get me down. But you have to understand how the mind of a person who's been through this thinks."

She lets go of my sleeve, nodding.

"Then… I'll do my best. So that I won't die."

"Good."

With that, I start walking away, but then stop.

"Oh, Nomida-san."

"Y-yes?!"

"I don't mind if you call me Weiss. I'll still call you by your last name, but frankly I find it a pain in the ass when people use such respectful ways of addressing me."

"T-that's, um…!"

I can hear the whispers going around us. Seems I forgot where we were for a second.

"Can I…"

"Hm?"

"Kazuma… kun?"

"Yes?"

"That's… fine, right?"

"I don't mind. Whatever suits your needs. San is fine too, but I was just letting you know that it's a bother. Respect through an honorific or name choice means nothing to me. Your actions will speak for themselves. Anyways, let's hurry. I'm sure the others are probably wondering where the hell we've gone off to. What's for dinner tonight anyways?"

"Um, I think tonight's special is spicy kaarage…"

"Is that so? Well, guess I'll have to try it."

I should probably expect a call from MT soon enough… the mystery sure runs deep…

* * *

 **Hehehe, yeeeeeahaahahaha, woo that was a fun chapter.**

 **Reinhardt and Weiss make up, which I thought was fine because Reinhardt sees Weiss doesn't really hold anything against her and remains committed, so she gets guilted into the apology, essentially. Theeen we have the golem fun times.**

 **I may have gotten the technical aspects of jammers and whatnot wrong, but I felt like they were small enough to be excusable. Kazuma goes full sniper for a second and turns the tables, allowing everyone to finally start communicating and work together in order to defeat the golem. Since IIRC Tabane was behind the golems, I thought it would be appropriate that she did her research on who might be there with Ichika, which is why it was heavily armored and heat resistant (to counterattack Shenlong and Blue Tears), which effectively makes Ichika the best person to actually take it out due to his laser sword, which I thought (might be wrong) that due to its extreme offensive ability, would be generating a lot more heat than say, Blue Tears' laser drones, bypassing the heat resistance via "over what its specs are".**

 **Of course, Tabane didn't account for Weiss going all out and hitting it with AP and then being insane enough to go actually on-foot to ruin her plan. And neither did anyone else at the Academy. I enjoyed writing his planning/on-the-fly mode, such as breaking into the circuitry that controls the door (or at least, Lisarene handling it because she does mechanics and electronics, or so it's been implied), breaking the windows into the Operator booth in order to get access/prevent being cut off, and having manual overrides for things. I hope I was able to convey the sense of urgency well.**

 **I thought this was a good Nomida development chapter as well, but it really developed everyone by the end, as they've all gotten a taste for what Weiss has been saying about live battlefields, plus I got to show Weiss sticking to what he believes in, haha.**

 **And for those of you wondering when the AC will be used again, all I have to say is:** _ **very soon**_ **. I've been waiting quite a while for the AC to pop up again, but I know we're at a good place or at least, almost there, hehehe. Anyways, see you guys next time!**


	8. Tip of the Iceberg

**Alright, here we go! Super Bowl Sunday, and I'll be putting up a chapter, haha! Doing this in between commercial breaks. Anyways, review reply time, GOOOOO!**

 **Kerlongsj Evert Orlejov:** Well, hopefully I can keep things pumping with the other fight scenes if they come up. Thanks for reading, I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter!

 **Grinja:** Did someone secretly pass you my plans XD Also I was considering it, but it's probably going to be rough to actually put a scenario like that in since Sea Glass is pretty much not going to be used and the White Knight unit isn't around anymore, but we'll see if I do something with it, haha. Thanks for reviewing!

 **BottomKek:** Well, the two of them were pretty much shelved off to the side since they're not supposed to be AC pilots anymore, but we'll see. Thanks for reading!

 **Anyways, thanks to everyone who came out and read the last chapter! That should take care of all the reviews! Here we go!**

* * *

 **Chapter 8:** Tip of the Iceberg

* * *

"S… should we stop them?"

A small group of girls, consisting of Cayden, Reinhardt, Lisarene, and Stoneson watched from far away through pairs of binoculars that they didn't want to ask Reinhardt _why_ she had them.

Mainly because they were pretty sure it had to do with her sniping.

At the moment, they were watching Nomida, in full _bogu_ , or kendo armor, trying to get a single successful hit on Weiss who was going completely unarmored. While Weiss wasn't a master of unarmed combat, he was still skilled, but so too was Nomida skilled in the arte of the blade, but there was a large gap between them..

However, Nomida was sloppy. Her movements were unsure and felt desperate. Perhaps because they were.

Reinhardt had thought something was wrong, as Nomida was up as she started her early morning jog—carrying equipment, to boot. At the same time, Kazuma, who usually joined her, was missing. Her curiosity getting the better of her, she quietly went back to get her binoculars and then started trying to find them.

Cayden had come out after her, as she was wondering where Kazuma had gone. Over time, the other two had come along, wondering what the other two were up to.

But so far, Kazuma had put Nomida through the wringer. They ran, with the equipment pack on, first. Then, swimming. Climbing, pushups, hand to hand combat, all sorts of things. By the time they had got to this point, Nomida looked ready to collapse. Even the weight of the armor alone looked like it was dragging her down.

It was rather brutal to watch. Kazuma had zero mercy, weaving through the girl's sloppy attacks before striking her right in the chest, Nomida going down like a sack of bricks.

Yet every time, the girl would stand to her feet using her shinai as a support and resume her stance. It was like watching a dying animal being tortured.

For a whole forty minutes, they watched Nomida try to attack Kazuma, who looked slightly tired but was in better shape than Nomida, duck and weave before taking down Nomida in a single blow.

At the end of those forty minutes, Nomida tried to get up by using her sword as a support, but her grip faltered and she fell to the ground.

* * *

 _ **Armored Hearts**_

* * *

I help Nomida take off the helmet and then bring her to her feet before carrying her on my back. We go over to a table where I help her lie down.

"Feeling like shit?"

She weakly nods.

"I told you my training was meant to break people. I just ran you through the absolute worst case. You have to run away, swim, climb, keep running, and even then your enemy corners you. Feels like hell, right?"

"Mhm…"

"It's a possibility, though." I say, sitting down next to her. "Sometimes you can give it everything you have. And it won't be enough. Sometimes your best… just really isn't enough."

"And so…"

"What happens then?" I ask, stealing the words from her.

I move my fist and make a stabbing motion, right about to here her brain is.

"You die. No glory, no honor, just you, a broken mess of injuries, blood, bones and whatever last words you can spit out at your enemy before they kill you."

"There's nothing more I can do?"

"There's nothing more you can do."

"And so I die, right?"

"Yes. At the very least though, you can take solace in your victory, should you have achieved the objective, or if you failed even that, you were at least a big enough pain in the ass for your enemies to take out."

I move my hand away. "This is what the battlefield is like, Nomida-san. It's a brutal hell. It is quite literally kill or be killed. There is no glory to be found here, unlike the exhibition battles in their controlled environments. You saw what happened the other day, right? How terrified even the 'representative pilots' were when it came to consequences."

"They weren't afraid to fight, though…"

"Yes, so long as it was just them. But I asked Yumemi-sensei for the recordings. Their teamwork was all off when they were fighting as it bashed down the door to the hangar. It's one thing to fight in that environment, where it's contained, everything like that. But they weren't ready to realize the reality of death. Once it became further than just the arena, things got messy.

"That is what I am preparing you for, Nomida-san. To realize that when you step onto the battlefield death is an inevitability. You have to learn to know that it's there and remain calm nonetheless. That doesn't mean you have to be numb to it. Seeing a group of civilians in peril should move you, yes, but that doesn't mean you have to lose your head. If your mind is clouded by the thoughts of their demises so much so you cannot focus on fighting, then you are a liability as well. But if you can fight, knowing that they may very well die, but with a calm mind know you are trying to save them, then all the better."

"I see…"

She giggles, maybe out of being so tired her mind isn't functioning right.

"That's… why you could do what you did, right?"

"Yes."

I lean back and exhale deeply.

"It is why I could tell you to stay quiet, along with what I said before. Why I could head out there. I have grown accustomed to the possibility of death, which included yours in that situation. But I didn't let my mind be clouded by such a thing, allowing me to make a gamble. Also, sit up."

Nomida groans while getting up, though as she does so I open up a pack of food that I brought with us.

"Starving, right? Here."

"You cook…?" she asks, stretching her arms. "A-ah, I need to get out of my armor…"

I set up the two containers of packed lasagna on the table as she removes the armor clippings, being reduced to just her kendo uniform. I then take off my jacket and toss it to her.

"Top's coming a little bit off." I say, putting two bottles of tea on the table as well. "First thing's first though, do your stretches. Might help you cool down a bit, too."

Nomida nods, getting to her stretches. I dig out the utensils used and put them on the napkins while watching her finish, though she catches me watching and turns away as not to look at me.

"Better?" I ask as she comes back to the table, sitting down.

"Yes… um, but you cook?"

"I picked up a few tricks from my colleagues. This should give you a decent punch of energy. You're fine eating beef, right?"

"M-mhm."

The two of us eat underneath the morning sun, with me pointing out things such as Nomida's running form or how she can reduce her energy consumption with swimming. She pays the utmost attention, always seeming to get what I tell her.

"Though, there is one aspect we have to work on."

"H-hm?"

I think she understands what I want to talk about.

"Inner jacket pocket. Left side."

Nomida pulls out a small prop knife, but it looks like the real thing. I put out my hand on the table. Suddenly she starts trying to shrink herself, knowing what I'm getting at.

"I have to test your devotion to the thing you want. So Nomida-san, imagine this for a second. I am the devil, sitting here with you, offering you wealth, power, fame. But on one condition. You have to give up on that dream in your heart. The one you never told anyone else. The one that carried you this far."

I change my tone to something a little more honeyed, making myself sound weaker.

"That sounds nice, doesn't it? Your life will never know hardship again. Just… say you won't pursue it anymore…"

I of course, end up not continuing it. I can see Nomida's grip on the knife tighten.

"That's enough." I say, putting a hand on Nomida's. Her grip on the knife instantly loosens.

"A-a-ah, I, I ah—"

"It's fine. That's advancement, at the least. Prop knife, by the way."

I take the prop knife back from Nomida, who quickly goes red in the face.

"But, it's good to see that reaction from you. You'd reject the easy path in favor of the one for going after your dream. That is indeed a good thing to see from you. There's a lot of people who are all talk, it looks like you might not be one of them. Either way, good work today."

I lightly pat her on the back before standing up.

"Can I ask where you learned to fight with a sword, though?"

"My mother…"

I nod, understanding what she means. Most likely, when Nomida was forced to become a pilot, her mother drilled the sword into her.

"Dojo in the area?"

"M-mhm."

"Well, this will be interesting, then." I mutter, getting Nomida's attention.

"What's interesting?"

"I'm guessing you were taught fighting with honor and whatnot, yes?"

"Sort of…"

I can only smile, Nomida shivering when she sees it.

"Well Nomida, let's just say that when I teach you how to survive, all honor goes out the window. You do whatever it takes to win. Hidden weapons, running away and luring the enemy into a trap, playing dirty and unfair. It's all valid. There's not room for honor on the battlefield."

"I… I see."

"So, it might go against everything you've ever been taught about fighting, but like I said, I'm different in how I teach people."

"It's not about winning, right?"

"Yes. It's about surviving the battlefield. Part of that is winning to accomplish the objective and if you're going to kill the enemy, you've got to win, but winning battles isn't what you're concerned about."

"Mhm… I think I get it."

"Good. Anyways, get some rest. We won't be doing exercises on this level again, or at least, not for a long time, but I am going to continue exercises with you. If you're going to be killed, then at the very least you're going to be hard as hell and the biggest pain in the ass to kill. And for that, you need to improve your physical abilities as well as your mental ones in fighting."

"Ye-yessir!"

"Don't call me sir. But expect more running and swimming. You free after classes, mostly?"

"U-um, I have kendo on Tuesdays and Thursdays…"

"Alright, good. Keep going to that. On the other days, we can either go run, swim, climb, or spar."

"Um… what about your morning runs?"

"Oh, guess you would've heard about those…" I mutter before shrugging. "Well, two runs a day isn't bad."

"Ah, is it because you're…"

I raise an eyebrow before Nomida can finish, making her pause. Ah, geez.

"Well, truth be told, a morning run with Reinhardt is rather enjoyable. A lot of our discussions might go over your head as well since we've both had experience with the military. Wouldn't want you to get left out, is all."

"O-oh."

"Anyways, I can help you back to your room. This is a lot to carry, after all."

* * *

"You work fast."

"I had a feeling you were watching." I say, reentering my room to see Mei's cat-like grin.

"Sniper's instincts at work, eh?"

"No, it was more that some of you are amateurs when it comes to lens reflections."

"Still though, already training Nomida?"

I sit down at my desk and crack open the textbook for class. "Well, I made a promise of sorts. She made it past today, so that's worth something."

"That's good to hear."

"I miss anything, though?"

"Not at all—"

Both of freeze when our phones go off at the same time. After glancing at each other, we pull out our phones and check the number. MT.

I look at the door and confirm it's locked before answering in sync with Mei.

"Reporting in." Both of us speak.

" _Mountain. Union. Quarter. Zipper."_

"Parasol. Saucer. Jubilant. Grease."

A moment goes by, likely MT confirming it's us.

" _Four-oh-three-four, this is MT. We've got a situation. Are you prepared to accept a mission at the moment?"_

"Yes, ma'am."

" _Good. I'm going to lay out the details of how you're going to get off the island. You will claim to have been hired for a job. Unofficially you both have left your outfit, but your contract doesn't terminate you for another nine months. A favored client has requested you both come along for this mission. They're paying good money. You've essentially no right to refuse, even if you are at IS Academy._

" _IS Academy Special Directive Clause 21 will not apply here. Normally you are not to be affiliated to any country, organization, or syndicate, but without student agreement, external organizations cannot manage them. However, your cover stated that you did not break your contract with your outfit, the reasons left off the record. This is with explicit student permission that you took this job, so they can try to stop if they'd like, but you can argue that they have no permission will accept anything that comes from leaving your classes. Your estimated time away will be seven days."_

"Understood, ma'am."

" _On your end, it's eleven hundred hours. An attachment has been sent to your phone to pass as the paperwork for taking this assignment if it is contested. Once you receive permission, head across to the mainland. You don't need to bring anything with you. Am I understood?"_

"Yes, ma'am."

" _You have until fourteen hundred hours to make it to the mainland. Contact me when you have arrived, codeword is 'Point Hakurei'. MT, over and out."_

The signal terminates, with Mei and I glancing at each other. We nod and immediately get to work, confirming that the room is clean and that no one will be able to find anything. Additionally, even if they found the case with my rifle in it, they wouldn't be able to get it open. I already checked the mechanics shop earlier, their grade of tools won't be able to break into it.

"Ready."

"Ready." I repeat, the two of us leaving the room, closing the door behind us.

Mei and I make some light conversation to keep up the appearance of going to lunch as we go to the teacher's office. Even if it's Sunday, it seems that someone's here.

"Um, excuse me!" Mei calls out, with me electing to stay behind. She gives a very convincing sob story, coming off as legitimately not wanting to have to leave, showing the attachment we were given as proof we had to go. I give a shrug of 'it's business', playing off of Mei's eventual pout. It seems the teacher who was in didn't know how to deal with this situation, but Mei added additional pressure to avoid having to wait for Yumemi by saying that for all she knew, our outfit might be in serious trouble. I played her backup by once again, saying it was "just business on the battlefield", letting Mei milk the (false) situation for all the drama and power she could get.

The teacher who was there quickly told us to head off and that she'd let Yumemi know when she dropped by. Mei and I immediately left afterwards, making a beeline for the trams. The longest fifteen minute wait goes by as we wait for the tram to take us across with multiple other students.

The other side of the tram station is a small covered mini-plaza. Down the stairs to the parking lot are several small shops and two fast food restaurants, likely here to capitalize on student and faculty traffic, though two security guards here are likely keeping people from trying to hop onto the trams freely. I see a small spot far enough away from the buildings where two vending machines are close by to a trash can.

As soon as we get out of the tram, Mei and I move away from the other students, going to the isolated area by the vending machines. I dial MT's number, punch in my digits to get past her usual forwarding, and wait for her to be on the line.

"Point Hakurei."

" _Are you both there?"_

"Both of us have arrived."

" _A cab will be there shortly. I will direct the operative to you. Where are you in the landing area?"_

"Vending machines."

" _Understood. Cab is arriving in two minutes, hold your position. The rear view mirror should have a brown rosary hanging from it."_

The two of us keep scanning the area, waiting for the taxi. Eventually, at one minute thirty second mark, a yellow, slightly beat up cab arrives, pulling up to the curb.

"I see the cab. Moving in."

" _Your destination codeword and identity confirmation are Legion Ramirez."_

Mei and I walk towards the cab and open the door, Mei going inside first. I slip into the back seat after her before closing the door.

"Legion Ramirez." I say to our driver. Lightly tanned skin, dressed in a Hawaiian shirt, brown sunglasses on. Blonde hair that looks familiar...

The driver nods as I see that the call on my end terminates. After we drive away and hit the road, he opens up the glove compartment and hands Mei and I a folder each before tapping a few buttons on the dashboard. When I catch the side of his face, I place a name to it.

"Sky Receiver."

"How's it going, four oh three four?" he says with a small chuckle. Marisa's Operator. Why is he _here_ rather than with her?

" _Four oh three four, do you copy?"_

"We copy, ma'am."

" _If you'll look through the documents, I'll walk you through. The context of this mission is simple."_

MT continues talking as I flip through the pages.

It seems we've been called in due to it pertaining to us. They've recently spotted a factory that's producing AC parts in the middle of nowhere in the African wastelands, sort of in his hidden plateau. Makes it real hard to do a direct assault as navigating the slopes would be tricky as there's not that much room, so a drop-in is the only way. There's apparently been an unregistered IS that's showed up there as well. Normally that doesn't matter to us, except when Hidden Hand went to investigate, they discovered that a majority of the parts there look like Sea Glass' parts.

We don't know the specs, but my job is to go and secure the factory. However…

"MT, have previous operatives been dispatched?"

" _I was about to get to that. The IS unit that's there caught us off guard and eliminated most of our scouting drones. They kept their cannons well hidden but a previous skirmish exposed them. Near the base itself are several anti-air encampments. Sky Receiver doesn't have the capabilities to handle it, so we're sending you."_

"Understood. I trust it's the same with Delta Sharp?"

" _Yes."_

That explains why her Operator is here and why we're here. But Delta Sharp should have better specifications for this…? Unless it's currently damaged and needs repairs, which is why it can't be deployed and this is urgent.

"MT, what's the specs on the IS?" Mei asks, turning a few pages.

" _It seems we're dealing with effectively an upgraded Blue Tears unit. Three times as many BIT drone units. The energy readouts seem to be a little higher compared to what you've reported. It's faster and has better targeting."_

"In short, it's going to be a rough fight."

" _You'll have some time to retune your unit when you arrive."_

"Got it."

It's likely our enemy operative knows what they're doing as well. They won't so easily be led astray like Alcott.

I'll have to go light. So that means no sniper rifles on my shoulders. Twin rifles and a small dumb missile launcher might be a good loadout. On the other hand, I can afford to go a little heavier because of my unit's output.

"MT, what unit am I using for this?"

" _Your usual, four oh three four."_

Mei and I exchange a look. Orbital Static. She knows what we're dealing with.

Alright. So we're already on track, good. Sea Glass was a little risky in my opinion, anyways.

"Mission received, MT. We will accept."

" _Understood. Contact me should any additional questions arise by the time you arrive."_

With that, the line cuts out.

"Radar, dumb missiles." Mei says, both of us already knowing what I might want for my primary weapons so we skip saying them.

"If we tune it for better target acquisition, we can chance the sniper rifle. Besides, with twelve drones, it'll shoot down any missile swarm now that I think about it."

"Are you sure you want that much of a load on your shoulder?"

"We only need to get past the anti-air encampments. From the photos and reports here, it looks like once we're on the ground, it won't be an issue. The main issue though is…"

"The targeting algorithm. It's completely calibrated for fighting AC units. We have a bit of time to tweak, but…"

"They're a part producing factory. I'd definitely say they've got a NEXT, or at least a high chance. If you tweak the algorithm, we're going to have to middle ground it. However…"

"Hm?"

"The IS moves far, far slower compared to an AC. While I definitely require the computer to even keep up with a NEXT…"

"You think you should be good enough to handle an IS?"

"The IS doesn't move like a conventional target. A NEXT is actually fairly limited in its movement capabilities in the midst of combat. But even a normal human can keep up with what an IS is capable of for the most part and if I'm wetwired into the AC's network…"

"...it should be enough."

"Granted, we may need to tweak and tune it slightly, but for now we shouldn't have to worry about a complete overhaul."

"Got it."

I know Mei's concerned, but I trust in my piloting abilities. I don't need the targeting algorithm to be completely redone, even if it's optimized for NEXTs, it should be able to roughly keep up with an IS, along with some human input.

The most I have to worry about is Ignition Boost. However, repositioning myself, especially with the speed of the AC, should be enough. But, we are _also_ going to be fighting in a small, enclosed area. Or at least, relatively exposed. I would say that perhaps it might limit our opponent's ability to use it, however I've yet to observe first hand what a skilled pilot can do with it. If anything, I should assume that my opponent is capable of using it effectively against me.

Either way… this will certainly be a difficult battle. I already know I'm likely to fight a NEXT as they're producing parts, but a NEXT and an IS together?

What's more concerning, though, is that _somewhere_ , there is an _organized_ task force that is _jointly deploying_ NEXTs and IS units or at least, is capable of doing such a thing. Not even our organization is capable of doing that. Just who are these people and where the hell did they come from? And why didn't I know about them? If they had NEXT capabilities, I should have been be aware of who they are.

...unless of course, MT didn't tell us. But she had no reason to, especially with an enemy as dangerous as this one.

Regardless, Mei and I continue to plan what we'll take.

By the time we reach the docks where we'll be taking a boat out, we've already decided on the weapons. Two 063ANAR assault rifles. I want accuracy and with the size of those guns, if I fight an IS, any hit I get is going to _hurt_. The back weapon on my left shoulder is going to be the 067ANLR. I'd much rather take a sniper rifle, but having a laser rifle on my back that I trust to carve through a NEXT will be handy if I want to save ammo for the IS that's there. Especially since it looks like I might not have the most room to maneuver.

Either way, we board the boat covertly, since apparently Hidden Hand infiltrated the dock beforehand. Technically we're still on official business as part of our cover, but it can't hurt to cover our tracks if need be. I suppose we should expect IS Academy to sniff into our business sooner or later.

The boat is a very simple yacht that looks like it's possibly seaworthy. Not necessarily to cross the ocean, but good for simply going out into the open ocean and chilling for a few days. Sky Receiver's operator drives off after we give the all clear signal, likely blending is an another cabbie.

After we get settled, the boat takes off and we spend about an hour going off. We reach open waters without anyone in sight. Skies are perfectly clear. Not a single boat within eyesight.

"Hold onto something." Our pilot says. Mei and I look around, grabbing some handrails inside the cabin. We're just in time as we're boxed in from all sides, some small metal walls enclosing us. The perimeter is a familiar size—the launching area of _Rainbow Stream_.

We're slowly lowered, likely the water being pushed out of the launching area before the top over us comes back, closing us in.

"Back home." Mei says as the rest of the water filters away.

"Yeah. Thanks for the ride."

"Anytime, four oh three four." Our pilot says as Mei and I exit the boat cabin. I disembark and hear my boots hit the metallic floor, soaking in the smell of sea water before turning around and helping Mei down.

"Welcome back, four oh three four."

"MT." Mei and I say in sync, greeting our ever so lovely handler. It seems she didn't bother curling her hair this time around, but she's still wearing that brown jacket like always.

"Looking good with those boots." Mei says, unbuttoning her IS Academy jacket. "God, feels good to get out of that."

MT chuckles as I take Mei's jacket after taking mine off. "Come on, let's get you set up. I'm sure you've already got plans for what you want to equip, we can talk along the way. Time is of the essence."

* * *

 _ **Armored Hearts**_

* * *

"I can't believe you've dragged me into this."

"Oh come on, you can't deny you're curious." Lisarene fired back as she continued to fiddle with the lock to Kazuma's room, having 'kidnapped' Reinhardt from the staff room. With her was Stoneson, who was acting as a lookout, as she wanted some dirt on the supposedly flawless Kazuma, along with sating her curiosity. "Stoneson, anyone?"

"It's quiet."

"Peeeerfect…"

The lock on the door turned, with Lisarene dragging Reinhardt inside. "You know the plan, Stoneson."

"Got it."

With that, Lisarene closed and locked the door behind them.

"What the actual hell is going on, and give me one reason why I don't just report you—"

"This is about the only place we can talk." Lisarene said, crossing her arms. "They've probably already gotten rid of any bugs in the room."

"Bugs?"

"Recording devices, you know the like. I haven't been able to confirm whether or not IS Academy uses them, but I figured if there's one place that's really gotten rid of them, it's Kazuma's room. Hence, I can talk with you about whatever."

"What the hell could you possibly need to talk to me about that requires that? And why not your room?"

"Can't sweep, roommate's in there pretty much twenty-four seven." Lisarene said as she walked around the room as if looking for something.

"Why would Kazuma sweep his room for bugs? Who the hell would think of that anyways, except for you, anyways?"

"He strikes me as that kind of guy." Lisarene replied with a knowing smile. "Reinhardt, I can call you that, right? Anyways, I just wanted to let you know something about Kazuma."

Lisarene locked eyes with Reinhardt. The military-raised girl swallowed, wondering what'd come out of Lisarene's mouth.

"I'd advise that you watch yourself around him." Lisarene spoke, no humor in her voice. "I heard about it, when you talked to our teacher about the fact no one had seen them in a day."

"You were _eavesdropping_?"

"Well, I was going to be a nice girl report it to our teacher that they seemed to have vanished, but you were already taking to her. I didn't catch much, but just heard you talking about the clause."

 _Bull_ shit, Reinhardt thought as Lisarene shrugged.

"But you know, being 'called away' for their company that they didn't break their contract for, Kazuma's training from before, I wonder what kind of life he led before coming here."

"You sound like you know."

"Do I now?"

"If you have something to spill, you might want to say it now."

"I've nothing more I'd like to say in that regard. But it's just a warning. Staying near Kazuma… heh, it's both a good and bad idea. Just make sure you watch your back, is all. There's plenty of people interested in him. I can't really say much more."

"...were you involved in the world of the Armored Core, too?"

"Who knows?"

"You're not exactly making yourself trustworthy."

"Sorry. But that's all I can really say without endangering myself. Hell, I'm already putting myself at risk here, but let's just say you're a friend, so I'm sticking my neck out for you. All you need to know is that if you continue to stick around Kazuma, you might find yourself entangled in things, is all. If you stay roughly where you are with him, things should be fine. I just thought to give you some warning. If course, I didn't want anyone else catching on, so that's why I elected to come here, as I've explained."

"Lisarene."

"Hm?"

"Let me be frank with you: I don't know what the hell you or Kazuma or whatever are involved with. I don't know who you really are or what your real motives are, but Kazuma and Cayden are my friends. You don't seem to be against them, so I just want to ask one thing. Just what are you to them?"

"Nothing much, really." Lisarene said as she walked past Reinhard to the door. "Just someone who is familiar with the world of the AC. Perhaps the correct terminology is 'favored client'."

Reinhardt froze at hearing those words.

" _They were called away by their previous outfit, as they still work with them and a favored client called in a favor. It seems Kazuma and Cayden had no right to refuse."_

"Oi, Stoneson, I'm good to go. If you want to go sniffing around, that's up to you." Lisarene said as she opened the door. "Hey, Reinhardt, if you just stay in here, they're going to catch you, you know?"

"I know that, shut up." she hastily replied, exiting the room.

"Close the door on your way out," Lisarene said as Stoneson went in, an eager smile on her face. "My end of the deal. You can run along if you want, I'm done."

"...as am I…"

 _Just who was Lisarene?_ Reinhardt thought as she walked away. Part of her wondered if she had tipped anyone off about her investigations to Sea Glass, but she had always taken the proper precautions when surfing online. Maybe it had been her and Kazuma's discussions.

 _Maybe Lisarene has ties to Sea Glass?_

The worry if she had painted a target on her head began to seep in. She only hoped she wouldn't regret anything. At the very least, she had to wait for Kazuma to get back. She'd likely tell him everything that happened.

But as for how long that was going to be, she didn't know.

* * *

 _ **Armored Hearts**_

* * *

" _Let's review the mission."_

"Give it to me, Operator." I say as I make the final checks on my AC. We're already above the drop point, hovering well above IS operation territory. Any IS pilot would probably freeze to death up here, not to mention we're pretty well hidden anyways. AMS already engaged… good to go.

" _We'll be dropping into the enclosed area where a factory producing NEXT parts similar to that in design to Sea Glass has been located. Several anti-aircraft cannons have been discovered and the terrain makes a conventional assault nearly suicidal. Your mission is to drop in and secure the factory._

" _The enemy likely has NEXT and Infinite Stratos capability. We have not detected a NEXT in the area, but be warned it is a possibility. They also may have additional Normals that we did not detected. Be on your toes. That's the mission."_

"Understood." I set my ready signal to green, letting everyone know I'm good to drop. It's been a while since I had to deploy, but my skills shouldn't have faded. I spent as much time as I could in the simulations while we made the trek here to be sure of that.

Two rifles, laser rifle on back, radar unit, should be good to go. Ha…

" _T-minus thirty seconds to operation start."_

"Got it. Hey, Operator, I got one last question for you."

I can practically feel Mei's smile through the communication device even if it's audio only. Our little good luck ritual, as always.

" _What'chu need, Orbital Static?"_ she asks, completely loose in her tone, none of the business feeling behind it.

"Will you guide me to victory?"

" _You know it. I got your back."_

Ten seconds.

They go by as fast as I expect. The floor underneath us drops out, my AC freefalling through the air. However, I already have all the thrusters ready.

" _Using your down cameras to trace those guns, I'll let you know if it looks like they might have a lock!"_

"Engaging Primal Armor."

" _Got it. Gun tracking is being sent to your display!"_

Even though it's on the screens in front of me, the numbers and red arcs on the screens that show where the guns are aiming and their likely shot paths are also processed in my head due to the wetwiring of the AC with AMS. Instead of having to see things on the screen and having delay with processing it, my mind can do it directly with the help of the AC.

The first volley comes along. I Quickboost and make zigzags through the air, Mei constantly updating me with every shot. A dozen guns, no wonder they didn't send Sky Receiver.

" _Watch your drop speed, might have to reduce to avoid shock!"_

"Got it."

While AMS means I shouldn't actually need buttons, it still helps to have an action, some kind of trigger, to help. My left and right middle fingers squeeze down on a trigger as I command the upward thrusters to fire off. It means more time in the area and more time being shot at, but I'd rather dodge more shots than take a nasty shock to the legs.

I guess it's just that Sky Receiver's pilot likely wasn't used to Orbital Static to do this mission. While Sky Receiver has lots more firepower, it's not as fast as Orbital Static, let alone Sea Glass. Her unit is more a thinking man's one, using placement and the terrain to prevent having to move as much so she can unload.

They probably didn't want to risk the repairs, easier to have me here. Dodging twelve automated defense cannons is easy enough, though.

" _You're about to exit the cannons' range."_

"Got it."

I Quickboost a few more times, always waiting for the cannons to get a lock before moving out of the way, falling below the mountain line, touching down in the middle of the space hidden by the mountains.

" _You're past the cannons, secure the factory."_

"Moving."

I set my right weapon to the laser cannon in case a NEXT tries to spook me, I won't have the delay of having to switch to my AC killer. Alright…

" _Energy readings!"_

By the time Mei says anything, alerts have flared up all over my screen. Twelve shots, roughly overlayed in order to maximize a hit. The enemy must have laid them down beforehand without moving them, waiting for me to arrive. They're clearly skilled, as I get hit twice.

However, the damage to PA is minimal. Barely any AP lost as well. I don't waste any time and immediately empty a round from my rifle towards the closest one I can aim at. My vision, amplified and aided by the AC's cameras, easily track the BIT unit.

"I've engaged the enemy."

" _No activated core just yet. We can't detect it."_

"Must be using Partial Deployment."

The shots continue off as the drone units take off, moving around. The targetting algorithm gets to work as I attempt to trace a single drone unit, keeping up with it.

"Keep track if a core gets activated or a new energy source is detected."

" _Copy that!"_

It looks almost like a shower is taking place as blue light continually rains down from above. I boost back and forth, watching the earth below me get singed. Got you.

A second drone explodes and I immediately begin tracking the third.

" _We've got energy signatures, they look like Normals! Coming from the factory!"_

Must be some internal defense. Those Normals will probably hurt more than drones, I should take them out first.

"Do I engage as soon as they come out?"

" _Try to avoid damage to the factory, but if it can't be helped—"_

"Understood. I'll give them a minute. If they do not move I will open fire."

The enemy likely knows we're going to take the factory. Therefore, it's unlikely they'll move out of a safe position and attempt to fight me without giving some risk to factory damage.

I continue to dodge the laser rain for a full minute, taking out three more drones. Five of them down. Looks like they aren't moving, either. The laser rifle on my back immediately starts locking on. Since our algorithm is still mostly tailored for ACs, I should be able to—

" _Energy sig—"_

My shot fires off just after I boost to the left, taking out a chunk of the factory wall. However, it causes a major chunk of debris to fall on top of one of the Normals. Without a second to spare, I fire the thrusters that allow me to turn quickly to face where it came from and fire off a second preemptive shot, hoping to surprise whoever's there.

However, just after the shots leave, I'm alerted by Mei to a live IS core.

There's no pause for her to introduce herself.

"Record visuals!" I command as I reposition myself. Whoever this is, she wastes no time, immediately opening fire with her sniper rifle and unleashing four missiles along with the laser rain and Normals firing at me. My left rifle aims at her while my laser cannon on my right arm continues to get a lock on the Normals as I skirt around the limited battlefield, even going as so far as to almost 'jump' off the ground to buy me some space.

The Normals are stationary though, so I can pick them off at ease. However, they are doing a number on the Primal Armor just due to having larger and harder hitting rounds. I need to pick them off just in case this girl's waiting for my PA to disperse.

She's been fighting defensively, or more like buying time. After all, this is her turf. Having to escape from here means she can pick me off as I run away if I had to.

They were pretty spot on with the Blue Tears upgrade, though.

Two more Normals go down to my laser rifle, but it takes five shots due to me dodging missiles and that sniper rifle. Which while it's nothing major, is nothing to sneeze at either.

" _Another missile swarm!"_

Tch…

"Operator, reconfiguring targeting algorithms. Let's take out the Normals first."

" _E-eh? Alright, got it. Monitoring."_

I turn the AC and focus fire the Normal, using three shots from my left rifle and then ending it with two laser rifle shots, reducing the Normal to scrap metal. PA's holding at twenty five percent.

" _Reconfiguring algorithms to target enemy IS."_

I have my left rifle start aiming down at its swarm of drone units, which she keeps far apart from each other. It's fairly effective in preventing me from shooting them all down with ease, with the majority of them firing from behind me. If I turn to face them, it means I'm more open to taking a shot from her sniper rifle.

Essentially, she keeps chipping away at my Primal Armor. Even if the damage to AP isn't high, she's still dealing some amount of damage. In addition, it seems she's unlikely to run out of ammunition, while I on the other hand…

"Reloading rifle."

That's my third reload. I've got plenty left, but ammo quotas are a useful thing to consider.

All I need her to do is launch another missile swarm. I can keep taking small shots from the lasers as much as I want for the most part.

"Firing."

I shoot the laser rifle on my back and miss on purpose, making her think I'm wide open as I Quickboost again, continuing to trace her position.

The enemy takes it, firing off another swarm of missiles.

My laser rifle fires again, aimed right for her. The blast is easily larger than any of her own lasers and detonates her missiles and hits her head on.

She quickly takes off into the air, firing off at me while exiting the mountain range, her drone units flying off with her. I don't know how much damage I did, but a direct shot from a laser rifle must have dealt a decent chunk to her shields.

Hm, it looks like she's not retreating just yet, though. She's staying up there where I'll likely be targeted by the anti-air cannons. She has far more flexibility in movement than I do. I'll be at a disadvantage in the air.

" _She's aiming for the fa—"_

I don't even need to consider what to do. I immediately Quickboost up and forward, taking the direct shot from her rifle in order to shield the factory. She's not entirely out of range however, so I set the AC to hover around the factory. The drain on my generators is going to be rough though. I can't regen PA as good in this situation since most of it is going towards keeping my AC from going down.

However, she can keep moving up there and with the distance between us, it's difficult to actually land a shot as she has ample time to move.

"Operator, a little help here."

" _You're going to have to get closer to her. However, you'll be putting the factory as risk… Orbital Static, please hold."_ Mei's mic cuts out for a second. _"Understood. Prioritize defeating the enemy IS unit. The factory is a secondary objective, now."_

"Copy. Also, feed me the data we have on Ignition Boost, I'm going to do an approximation."

" _Need anything else?"_ Mei asks as I begin processing the data with the AC, setting my targeting algorithm to search for the enemy in particular spots on my command.

"Just let me know if those cannons are about to hit me. Disabling Primal Armor regeneration."

Warnings flare up all over my screen. **PRIMAL ARMOR REGENERATION - INACTIVE.** The text indicating my armor level readout turns red and much larger. The continuous laser barrages eventually reduce it to zero, with more text reading **PRIMAL ARMOR - DOWN.** However, I see that my power consumption is much less than what it used to be so my thrusters aren't overpowering my production anymore.

But I'm banking it on this one try. It'll be something Ignition Boost. I'll put her, purposefully, into a better position. If she's between me and the factory, then not only will for a brief second will she be behind me, she'll be able to use the factory as a shield. Likely when she retreated, those drones only have so much operating range.

So…

" _Overboost charge detected."_

Heh, even though I'm a sniper, it looks like even blader tricks are useful.

The thruster on my back flares up. I see the readouts across my vision. Laser rifle lock on. Prepare to fire behind.

I Quickboost further into the air as the Overbooster goes off. In a white flash of light, I barrel forward towards our enemy.

" _Sudden enemy acceleration around you! Ignition Boost! Cannons are getting a lock on you!"_

"That's what I was waiting for…!"

You might be able to make that work with an IS battle, however…

My thrusters flare up again as I quickturn, now looking right at the enemy. Right where I wanted you. With the data I had before, I was able to get a good idea of where she might be after an Ignition Boost. After processing the combat data recorded so far, predicting where she would end up wasn't difficult. Then, by using the thruster capacity of the AC, I'm able to turn much faster than an IS.

I fire off a second laser rifle barrage. However, I hung in the air too long in order to get that shot and eat several hits from those cannons, and with my PA down it does a hefty four digit amount to my AP right before I sink down below their targeting area.

"Go…!"

I Overboost again, forcing her away from the factory unless she wants to get smacked with a ten meter block of steel, and then Quickboost to the left in order to avoid hitting the factory, touching down on the ground. Guhg…!

The shock is only momentary, giving me about a second's delay before I recover, putting PA regen back online before I start searching for my opponent. They fire a few more shots at the factory as they fly away…

...this time without stopping. I move the AC to easily take the few shots, watching my AP take a few more shaves. However, it's nothing major.

We won today.

"Operator, this is Sea Glass. The enemy is fleeing, I was unable to completely and utterly defeat them. Do I pursue as per objective?"

" _Negative, Operator. Do not pursue. Hold your position and defend the factory until friendly forces arrive. I repeat, do not pursue."_ MT's voice says, rather than Mei's. Looks like it's a higher up directive.

"...understood."

I should be chasing after her and killing her right now, so that way she can't submit any combat data or anything like that. But I understand that it's entirely possible they'll send in a mop up crew. I'd need to defend the factory in that case.

"Make it quick, though. I don't know if she's going to come packing anything more."

* * *

The wait isn't very long, though I have to sit out there the whole time while our guys come in and start loading everything onto trucks and also try to break into the computers there, but from what I overheard this base wasn't wired anywhere. Found some trucks as well, likely for transporting these parts. I doubt we'll be able to pull anything really damning, but it's a start.

Afterwards, we're all brought back to Rainbow Stream, where we immediately submerge and begin the trek back. MT comes in to debrief us and also collect our reports.

"MT."

"Yes?"

"Just who _fuck_ are these people? NEXT part production, Normals, IS unit. This ain't your run of the mill corporation or warlord. This is a full fledged organization likely similar to this one with likely NEXT and IS sortie capability. What I want to know is why I'm drawing a blank on who the hell it could be."

"That's above what you're paid for. In addition, due to your position and current deployment, you don't need to know."

"MT, these people could have infiltrated IS Academy as well. Cayden and I could be searching for them—"

"MT, I'm inclined to agree with him, we've done operations similar—

"Four oh three four."

Being called by our number shuts us both up.

"Let me be clear with you two. Your current objective is simply to blend in with IS Academy and pass for students there along with gathering any combat data you can from IS battles. Nothing more. Knowing anything more would endanger your cover. Am. I. _Clear_."

"...yes ma'am." we both mutter.

"When you return to IS Academy, forget anything you saw here."

A brief pause hangs in the air.

"...or you might also face retirement. You may return to your quarters. Rest up, you've got another sortie in about a day or so to help throw the time table off and give you both a proper alibi. Taking out a few pirate ships shouldn't be too rough on you."

MT doesn't say another word before she gets out of the room. Mei and I glance at each other, having a silent conversation. It's too dangerous to talk here. Not to mention we should also wait until we have fresh changes of clothes from the Academy. Might've bugged our jackets while we were gone, make sure we're keeping in line.

As we walk back to our quarters, I can't help but notice it seems we're a bit understaffed. Rainbow Stream had a lot more personnel on board, but it's… rather quiet.

Retirement…

MT shut me up about it before when I asked if there was an organization more convenient than us. Retirement… heh, more like 'covering tracks'. It wouldn't be good publicity to be associated with us. Fortunately, our tie-ins with the US government likely don't know about Sea Glass. A completely brand new unit, its maiden voyage being that mission all that time ago, so they can't really hold it over our head.

However, as for the _rest_ of what Hidden Hand has done before, we might not be the most savory of allies to have. MT hinted about it before, I guess. If we line up nice and pretty at IS Academy, we might secure ourselves a place in this new world while MT and the rest of Hidden Hand just try to hold on.

God _dammit_ , if only I had won that day…

The rest of the trip goes fairly smoothly. We're deployed in the Indonesian seas to sink a few pirates operating out of there that managed to steal a few freighters. Our objective was just to take out any hostile elements such as gunboats and helicopters so our footsoldiers and their escorts could approach the freighters without worry. Standard mission, it wasn't even remotely challenging. Omer Science even provided a NEXT for me to test, which would give us a nice bonus. Kind of surprising they were even still producing them, or maybe they had it lying around.

" _How's it going?"_

"I didn't know they'd be sending number nine out here." I say as a famous unit slips up next to me. "Honor to work with you, White Glint."

" _Eh, don't bother with the formalities, we've worked together before. It's been a while since I heard from you, Floral Horizon. Your rank's been slipping."_

"Been hard to find work, recently. Looking to retire from the IS business soon enough." I say, remembering the cover we have for the more 'public' areas. In short, one of our shell outfits does occasionally field me as ' Zekochi Ren', pilot of the chicken-legged bipedal AC _Floral Horizon_. It's fairly rare though, since with our cover I usually just take the low paying easy jobs to keep the lights on. I'm cheaper, too, so they can pay a low price for someone to do the easy work.

" _Aw, don't say that. You know what they say about soldiers talking about retirement."_

"Well, at least I won't be paying the bills anymore."

" _Ha! New unit?"_

"Omer's offering a bonus for a test ride."

" _Gotcha, gotcha. Alright, well, let's give 'em hell, Zekochi!"_

"Right back at you, O'Brien!"

All cohesion the pirates had dissolved upon seeing a NEXT, which is a fairly normal reaction. I didn't even take much damage, I don't think they even dealt a hundred in AP damage. I decline to join Joshua O'Brien, pilot of White Glint, to drinks with him and three of his friends. I do have a disguise kit if I couldn't get out of it, but it'd be a pain to maintain the cover. Plus, it's been a quirk of 'Zekochi Ren' to be generally not very sociable. Something something, need to lower temptation to spend money, stuff like that.

"Here you are." MT says, handing Mei and I folders as we're in our cab driving back in the dead of night. "An after action report that you can turn into IS Academy detailing your absence."

"Mhm." Mei and I respond together, taking the folders.

"...both you, remember what you're here for. Don't pull any stunts. We'll contact you if things change, but until then—"

"Keep our heads low." Mei says. "We know, MT."

"Just making sure. Anyways, good work. Get some rest."

The cab pulls up to a nearby spot. Mei and I get out of the car, give our thanks, and get going for the tram. Our ID cards get us past the security. As soon as we board the tram, I see MT pull away.

Mei and I look at each other and nod. Not yet. Might've bugged our jackets and clothes in general.

We manage to make it to our rooms undetected, slipping past some teachers with our old infiltration skills. While we should technically be excused, it would be inconvenient to be caught.

"Someone's been in here." I mutter, seeing the lock. It's minor, but I can see some scratches that look like someone was fiddling with it. "Or at least, someone tried."

"Wall, Weiss."

I nod, Mei taking point as I press my back up against the wall, Mei slowly turning the key to unlock the door. She puts her hand on the doorknob and uses her other to count from three. Two fingers. One finger.

On 'zero', Mei turns the knob and enters the room. I quickly follow suit to support her. We do a quick sweep of the room, finding nothing's wrong.

"Make a note we found the lock fiddled with." I say, locking the door to our room behind us after confirming nothing was really touched. We found no hidden explosives or anything like that. Nothing was even stolen, so right now Mei's doing a secondary bug swipe.

After confirming that our housing is relatively secure, I make the report to MT while Mei showers. I take a shower afterwards, Mei finishing the report before hanging up. We put all of our uniforms, every last article of clothing, into the wash and then tuck the shoes into a drawer after wrapping them in some spare clothes and running them through the wash, hopefully fucking up any electronics that were stored in there. However, if they're waterproof, then we're banking on the mic not picking up on us.

I trust Hidden Hand, however it seems they really are keen on keeping us here. It's entirely possible that our… _affiliates_ have gone through them and are checking up on us.

"Ready?"

"Yes." I say with a nod, turning on my computer given to us and starting to play some music, hopefully giving us some background noise.

Mei talks in a whispered tone. "Who the fuck were those guys?"

"Hell if I know. Just glad we didn't hit a NEXT."

"Definitely. Pull anything from her?"

"Wouldn't say shit."

"Then we're in a spot of trouble."

"Of course. Not much we can do, though."

"That's definitely right. You hear anything about the island?"

"Not a word."

"Think they got retired?"

"Possibly. Might be scattered for now."

"Keeping low?"

"Maybe."

Both of us pause, waiting for the other to speak.

"Good?"

"Good."

Both of us pull our heads apart, no longer having to speak in whispers.

"I'll let teach know about it, you know, the door."

"Don't." Mei interrupts, shaking her head. "I'll do something about it."

"...alright. Nothing crazy, you hear?"

"Don't worry, don't worry, it's not going to be anything that gets us in trouble." Mei says with a bit of a smile on her face. "Anyways, let's get some rest. We've got a lot of explaining to do to our teacher tomorrow."

"Agreed. Let's hit the sack."

Even after I turn out the lights and crawl into bed, I still can't shake the thoughts running through my head. Surely… there has to be something more that we could have done. Hidden Hand just has to be tied up in something. There's no way in hell… they'd just not let us do anything. We're their top operatives. And this is clearly a job that only 4034 can handle.

What if…

...this shadowy organization already has us dancing to its tune?

Forcing my eyes shut, I try to push those thoughts out. We wouldn't be so easily compromised. For now, I just need to get some sleep. It's not like I have the means to investigate, anyways.

* * *

 **Wew, okay, there we go.**

 **So you guys wanted an AC battle, I wanted an AC battle, and frankly this was actually already in my plans to have Madoka square off against Weiss. However, Madoka is a skilled pilot and doesn't underestimate her opponent, so she uses various tactics to put Weiss off his game. I also made it harder on Weiss since he's not used to fighting IS pilots. The AC targeting systems are made for fighting other ACs and for more conventional targets, which the IS is definitely** _ **not**_ **. This gives a fairly unique situation where Weiss has the upper hand techwise, but situation wise he's forced to be at a disadvantage, making it not a curbstomp. Had Weiss been fighting say, Alcott in her Blue Tears unit, it's likely it would have been very one-sided. Writing this fight was kind of tricky, let me know how I did so I can improve on later AC battles.**

 **I feel like the AC battle isn't as blood-pumping because Weiss is where he's best at. He's calm, nothing is interfering with his thinking, and it's a cut and dry mission.**

 **Lisarene also gets some implications in this chapter, especially about her possible ties to Weiss. It might seem a bit heavy-handed, but I think it was okay. It's sort of like her 'scaring' off Reinhardt, or you know, perhaps part of a plan, if Lisarene plotted for Reinhardt to possibly tell Weiss about it. You decide, haha.**

 **Then we get some references to the outside AC world, out of IS Academy. Some of the corporations are still alive, and Weiss has alluded to them before in previous chapters, but this is the first explicit one where he's working with them. White Glint also shows up as well, and if you can guess who the "three friends" are, good for you.**

 **Anyways, not much else to go on for this chapter. I hope you enjoyed the fight scene! Let me know what you thought and see you next chapter!**


	9. Convergence

**Wow that took longer than I thought it should have. Midterms suck, exams suck, and college sucks away your free time. So nothing new (lol).**

 **Anyways, similar to Dysfunction Junction, and I quote: "this took** _ **way**_ **longer to get out than I wanted. I had finished the writing a long time ago but just couldn't bring myself to actually friggin' edit and read over it again because I was so exhausted from school I've actually had this doc ready to upload for like two weeks now but lolnope'd out of effort.**

" **I have also been burned out because helping to write a VN-mod-thing and honestly writing became NOT fun for a long time. But I'm back!"**

 **That should explain why I've been gone for longer along with college. I was also writing some other stuff to try to get out of my rut. So yes, forgive me in advance for I have sinned, writing Neptunia fanfiction (lol).**

 **Well, first off: REVIEW REPLY TIME, GOOOO!**

 **Phantom Dark Knight:** Hmm, I must have missed that somewhere. I didn't remember reading that anywhere that you couldn't QB without Primal Armor, but oh well. Let's just say that Weiss' unit was customized, haha. Thanks for reading.

 **Grinja:** Ah yes, but fortune giveth as she taketh, so now we have a long turnaround time, wheee. Thanks for reviewing!

 **Siphon 117:** Yeah, I suppose it bugged me enough that I actually moved the explanation scene up a little bit (i.e. this chapter lol). Maybe I should have made it more evident from the start about why the NEXT suddenly found itself being replaced, as it is kind of jarring. Anyways, thank you for bringing it up, I suppose I might ninja-edit the first chapter to include an explanation down the way sometime, haha.

 **Axcel:** See last review, but at the same time, Weiss notes that the scale is difficult to manage. An IS just doesn't have the raw output of an AC with their generators. Also, since the AC was there first, ISes would be using downscaled AC tech if not their own custom brand, not the other way around.

 **Anyways that should take care of all the reviews. I'm actually on Spring Break right now but figured while I have the free time, I'd get this pushed up.**

 **Well, with that out of the way, let's begin!**

* * *

 **Chapter 9:** Convergence

* * *

As Weiss and Mei were away, dealing with threats unknown, the shadows of the golem incident were still weighing heavily on the girls they knew. Unknown to those two though, IS Academy had temporarily suspended classes in light of the incident, allowing students some time to get their affairs in order.

"Um, hey mom." Meghan said, holding the phone to her ear as she watched the ocean waves as the evening sun began to fall. "Sorry, I was just so exhausted... yeah, I'm fine, though. I wasn't hurt. Yeah, Weiss helped."

" _Siiis!"_

Even if she wasn't their actual sister, the kids at the orphanage liked to call her as such. It felt nice to hear their voices again. She had only called to let them know she was okay after the news had gotten out, but before she called again, she wanted to do some soul searching.

"Hey, John, hey Nathan." she replied, a small smile coming onto her face. She could already tell who was talking just by the voice alone. "Hi mom, hi dad."

" _We've been worried, honey."_

"Sorry for not talking to you sooner, but I had some thinking to do."

" _Were you thinking of coming home?"_

"It crossed my mind a few times." she admitted, shaking her head. "But…"

" _It's fine if you want to come home, Meghan."_ her mom said, the urgency in her voice, as if she was begging her child to return to her. _"Especially after what happened…"_

"Mom, I…"

She swallowed hard. Part of her, admittedly, wanted to run home to her mother's arms. But her parents had sacrificed so much so she could take prep classes and study her damn best to make it into the Academy. Because at her heart…

"I don't want to go back on the sacrifices you and dad made."

" _Honey, it's fine, really."_

"No, besides, I…"

She swallowed again. Those kids were relying on her. She promised all of them that she was going to graduate from that Academy. They saw her as an angel that could carry dreams on her wings. Coming back like this, it just couldn't be done.

Besides, she had already began to follow Weiss. Part of her felt like she couldn't just walk away from him now. Part of her was drawn to him, as if he could help her accomplish her dream. Maybe she couldn't pilot, but she was good with her hands and fast at typing, and having a professional Operator, surely she could work with him.

"...I want to stay. There's something I have to do."

" _Are you sure, Meghan?"_ her father asked as she curled the hand not holding onto her phone into a fist.

"I'm sure, dad. Besides, I'm still here for the kids! I won't let them down, especially after they came to cheer me on! And… there's someone here who I have to learn from. I can't just walk away from him, not after everyone else is sticking with him."

" _Him?"_

 _Oh, no._

"It's not what you think, dad!"

" _Who is this 'him'?!"_

She could tell her dad was partially joking, but there was some concern for her as well.

"Um, it's the other guy at IS Academy. The one I told you about. The professional Operator."

" _Weiss Kazuma…?"_ She could hear her dad swallow. The news had long spread about what had happened. Even though he had disappeared for a bit, Kazuma Weiss was already known by the world. While the boy was no representative pilot, the mere fact of what he did that day was enough to give most people pause about him. An air of mystery had surrounded the boy, something the news had picked up on. Who was this boy, why did he have the courage to shoot the golem when not in an IS, where did he come from? So far the news could only speculate, which made it all the more worrying.

"Yeah, dad. I told you I was friends with him already, but…" She took a deep breath. "Don't worry, I'm not going to get into trouble or anything. He talks a lot about practical experience, so I'm sure I can make my dream come true."

" _Just be careful, alright?"_

"It's okay, but thanks. Anyways, let's talk about something happier~"

Meanwhile, Houki and Taigei were clashing in the kendo dojo, being the only two that went even though classes had temporarily been suspended. Seeing as they were the only two that showed up, they decided to spar.

Even though they had clashed before, both had noticed something different in the other today. A new conviction had taken hold in their hearts. Perhaps their pleas were even identical. In fact, they were, in nature.

Houki wished for the strength to stand by Ichika's side, to be able to come in whenever he needed help. Taigei wished that she would be able to follow through with the promise in her heart, gaining the strength to see her wish to the bitter end.

At their core, both wishes were the same. Strength, to do what they needed. Perhaps this battle wasn't one strictly of skill, but also conviction. Both of them were a swordswoman currently affiliated with a certain man at IS Academy. While it was common knowledge that Ichika and Weiss were not particularly fond of each other, the same could not be said for Houki and Taigei. Even if the philosophies of the men they allied themselves with differed, they would always be women of the sword and peers in that regard.

At this point too, the match seemed to be more about who could even score any hint of a hit. Their blades moved with rehearsed skill. Of course, Taigei was at the disadvantage, as she hadn't practiced as much and Houki had been studying swordfighting longer, but it couldn't be denied Taigei had some natural talent to this.

That, and she fought with a certain ferocity now. As if knowing she was going to lose only made her more stubborn. As if she wanted to make Houki question whether or not it was worth everything she had to throw at her to defeat her.

They both let out a loud cry, their _kiai_ , as they charged forward, putting everything they believed in on the line.

While the two woman of the sword duked it out, off the island, at a small chapel not far from the tram station Reinhardt was praying, a small wooden rosary in her hands. While she had been raised religious, she had found herself slowly drifting away from it, but after the experience with the golem, she suddenly found herself running back into its arms.

 _Maybe,_ she thought, _I should talk to father again about all of this._

For the longest time, she had thought it was only natural for her to go into the military. However, it had suddenly become apparent to her that fighting as an IS Pilot would be very, very unlike the navy or airforce. While all were in the business of combat, there was something…

...disturbingly personal about being an IS pilot. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but she believed it was likely due to her position. For the most part, from she had been told, her family had never been as much on the front lines as she was. While they were accustomed to death, they hadn't had to deal it out so personally.

Or perhaps it was simply the fact none of them save for her had ever gotten to have full control of essentially a weapon of mass destruction. Perhaps all of them had operated weapons that could take lives, but nothing as so utterly destructive as an Infinite Stratos. Once Weiss' words had begun to sink into her, about how they could all die, how she could die, and just what the IS was and what she was really going to face on the battlefield, her resolve had began to waver.

But that was no longer the case. She was slowly putting herself back together—and thinking that maybe, now she could truly understand what her father and brothers went through.

Near the chapel, at a park bench, Lisarene was dressed in normal, girlish clothing, apparently on the phone to someone else. However, she was actually talking to the person sitting on the bench behind her: an older man in his Sunday best, reading a newspaper while feeding the birds.

"Yes, I haven't revealed too much." she said, holding the microphone on the cord near to her mouth. "He doesn't know who I am. It's kind of a shame, really."

She paused, as if getting a response.

"The data should be coming in soon. It just took me a little longer than I thought. The recent going-ons have been good cover, though."

Another pause.

"Understood, I'll remain on standby. Thanks for listening."

With that, she took out her earbuds and sighed, shaking her head. They needed more time. They all needed more time.

Quietly getting up, she started walking away, hoping that the time she'd reveal herself could come soon.

* * *

"Took you long enough."

Our teacher sighs as she scribbles something on her paper.

"Fortunately, the academy suspended classes after the incident, so you have no work to catch up on."

She shakes her head, leaning back in her chair. "Haa, look, I understand all of the business with the AC. Used to know people tangled up in it. You said you had no right to refuse, so I'm letting it slide. Try not to let it be so sudden next time."

"No promises, sensei."

"How long's your contract for? I just want to know if it'll ever cut into class again."

"It's a possibility." Mei says. "Forgive us for keeping quiet about our contract length though, we're… just waiting. To let it quietly expire. You know, that way no one tries to pick us up afterwards."

Yumemi looks over the two of us, as if trying to find a twitch that would give us away before her gaze softens.

"Anyways, I'll see you both in class later. I've got to process your reports about being away, let me know if need anything."

Both of us nod and exit the teacher's office, heading for the classroom.

"Guess we got lucky, eh?"

"I suppose." I say with a shrug. "It was to be expected, really."

We get to the classroom well before class begins, though it seems the classroom is still a bit empty.

"Kazuma-san." Our class rep says, immediately getting from her chair as soon as we enter the room.

"Reinhardt-san, good morning—something wrong?"

"Come with me, both you."

Mei and I look at each other but follow Reinhardt out of the classroom to the end of the hall, where she looks around. I glance around as well, finding that no one else is here yet.

"Kazuma, Cayden, I want you to know something. Please don't take this the wrong way, though."

Reinhardt informs of us of how Lisarene broke into our room. She tells us the full details, but wasn't sure of what Stoneson was looking for, probably just something juicy as far as Reinhardt could tell. However, Lisarene only called her to talk.

"I don't know what she was ai—"

Our conversation is interrupted by the warning bell going off.

"We'll talk about this later." Reinhardt declares. "But please be aware of her. It's unlikely she'd try anything against you during normal school days because you are a high profile student, Kazuma, but Cayden I would watch out as well."

"Understood. We'll keep an eye out. Thanks for the info, Reinhardt."

"No problem. Just watch yourselves."

With that, we start walking back to the classroom. But what the hell though, Lisarene? That timing seems _too_ good.

"A-ah! Kazuma-kun!" A voice calls as I enter the classroom.

"Nomida-san, what's going on?"

"Oh, um, welcome back!" she offers a sincere smile. "Um, well, can we talk about the schedule after class…?"

Schedule…? Oh shit, right. I was training her when duty called.

"Yeah, we'll talk later about it. Thanks for waiting, but duty called."

"Mhm!"

She gives an enthusiastic nod before going to her seat. Heh, I'm going to probably make her regret that, though, once she goes through my training. Hopefully she's managed to find something more to hang onto while I was away.

I'm interrupted from my thoughts by a nudge from Mei, who's grinning. I roll my eyes, going back to my seat.

The lesson is a big jump in speed from what we had last time, likely due to trying to compress more material into a smaller time frame, but I do my best to get through it. During the first break, I slip past Mei and hand her a note, detailing my plans for later today, and do my best to keep calm.

"So, you two in hot water for skipping classes? Well, at least, for suddenly disappearing before they suspended 'em, anyways."

I stop by the doorway as Lisarene asks that question.

"You could say that."

Without another word, I head out to the water fountain and grab a drink, but when I'm done, I find Nomida followed me out.

"Nomida-san."

"A-ah, I um…" she turns away. "Sorry, I got too anxious about it…"

"Oh, I see." I nod, crossing my arms. "It seems me being away for a week was feeding that. Well, I should be free after school today assuming everything is taken care of."

"R-right… Kazuma-kun, were you…"

"Called out to help Cayden-san again?"

"Mhm."

"Yeah." I say, walking past her and gesturing her to follow. Nomida's footsteps line up with my own as we begin the walk back to the classroom.

"Did you… have to end someone's life?"

"Yes."

I say it without any hesitation. Even if she's been coming around, I need to hammer it into Nomida that it's the inevitability as a soldier. There can't be any room for her to doubt in the fact that she may have to take a life if she continues down this path.

"But… aren't you the Operator?"

"Yes, I am the Operator, but I can't divulge more than that."

I believe that obscuring it will likely help push Nomida into accepting this fully. The more she imagines even an Operator, someone who is supposed to just be on the sidelines helping the pilot, having to kill someone, then it may help her with accepting that as a pilot it will have to happen as well.

"But you're allowed to divulge if you had to kill?"

"It'll be our secret."

Stopping in my tracks, I turn around and put a finger to her mouth, as if to stop her from talking. Granted, it's part of my cover at this point, that I'm an actual soldier, so it's not like it's _really_ a secret. But know it well, Nomida. Someone like me is completely capable of slipping in undetected to these students. Someone with this much blood on his hands. If I never told you, you might never know. But now you have to accept it.

It is one of the more terrifying things of man. There isn't a particular set of humans that are horrible people. While surely, there are people naturally inclined to sociopathy and psychopathy, just because they have those traits doesn't make them bad. Most people are good, or at least, neutral if you left them alone. However, it is when you tempt people, it is when they are given something that allows them to ignore what it means to be good, that they are capable of great and terrible deeds.

So learn it well, Nomida. That everyone in this school is being made to learn how to pilot machines of war. That you especially will need something to cling onto that will allow you to shoulder the burden of hundreds of lives that you take and take and take until your dream is satisfied.

"K-kazuma-kun…" she stammers, originally looking at the floor but then after slapping her cheeks, looks up at me into my eyes. She's forcing herself to do this, no longer running away.

"Nomida-san?"

"Um… okay. I won't tell anyone."

"Thank you."

With that, I resume my walk to the classroom, Nomida continuing to follow behind me. When we enter the classroom, Mei gives no indication that she read my paper, but I'm trusting her.

I wait for the lunch break. As soon as the lunch break bell goes off, Mei gets up and calls for Reinhardt, Lisarene, Nomida, and Stoneson.

"Not me? Heh, thanks." I say, knowing that Mei's putting my plan into action.

"Hey Kazuma, I haven't some girl talk in a few days since I've only had you to talk to in the tin can, so cut me some slack, m'kay~?"

Mei shoots off that excuse as she continually pressures them into coming with her. I wait a few minutes before leaving the classroom, heading to the vending machines and grabbing a granola bar and some canned coffee before going to my room. We should have some ingredients for me to prepare a lunch in there for plausible deniability.

I dial MT as usual.

"MT."

" _Four oh three four, what's going on?"_

I quickly fill MT on the situation. She seems a bit troubled about what I told her.

"You said not to bother Lisarene, but…"

" _Kazuma, let me say this. Lisarene is not a threat."_

"She isn't?"

" _I can't divulge anything more than that."_

"It's her protected status, isn't it?"

" _You aren't authorized to know that. But I can confirm with one hundred percent certainty that Lisarene is_ not _a threat. Any more would be a threat to your cover."_

That last sentence tells me everything I need to know. That means she's likely a previous client or at least related to a client. A client that's on our side. Or someone that's dealt with us and is on our side. I trust MT on this regard. Especially with that last sentence. Even if I had reason to suspect that we had been infiltrated and compromised, she could have simply omitted that line. Besides, MT has communicated with us enough times that simply by using seemingly normal conversation she can convey to us plenty of nuance.

For example, if we _had_ been compromised and MT had to communicate it to me that Lisarene was not to be trusted and viewed as a threat who could blow the entire lid off of Mei and I's cover, she likely would have said Lisarene was not a threat and something along the lines of "just watch your cover". That would have given me all the nuance to know that Lisarene likely would try to pin me down somehow. However, it's unlikely that we have been infiltrated, but it pays to be wary.

In order to buy myself some cover, I make some simple scrambled eggs, going a bit heavy on the salt and pepper since otherwise it'll taste like crap since we don't have anything else due to us being gone a week, meaning our supplies either went bad or weren't replenished. At the very least the canned coffee and granola bar go well with the 'breakfast for lunch' theme.

When that's done, I wash the dishes and head back to class early, hoping to snag Reinhardt. However, she returns with everyone else, not giving me a chance to talk to her privately.

"Oh, Kazuma-kun, um…"

"I've already written out the schedule for you. Since it's your first day back, your choice. We can either go running, swimming, or climbing today." I say idly to Nomida as I sit back down.

"Then, running, please!"

"Understood."

She doesn't know what she's in for.

* * *

"Ha…"

At the moment, I'm currently helping a completely tuckered out Nomida stretch after a light jog. And by light jog, that's for me.

"Haaaa!"

"A little more."

Nomida pushes herself a little more before leaning back, finishing her stretches. I walk around her and give her a hand, pulling her to her feet, although she's a bit shaky.

"S-sorry." Nomida whispers as she stumbles into me, losing her footing, but managing to regain it, pushing away from me and taking a few steps. "I'll be fine."

"I'll help you back, then."

"I'll… be fine." she asserts.

"Don't be afraid to ask for help. Dying because you were too prideful to ask for help is hardly any way to go out."

"R… right." she says, nodding. "Um… maybe a bit of help, then."

I nod, providing a shoulder for Nomida to slightly lean on. She isn't completely down for the count yet, but even so, she's trying.

"It kind of hurts, though."

"Pain's good. Pain teaches you that you're near your limits. That there's something to overcome. Granted, too much pain isn't good, sometimes it means you have to learn to step down from the challenge."

Only the foolhardy think they can't ever run away. You can't win every battle. Or at least, you can't win every battle presented to you. It is entirely possible to win every battle you choose to fight.

"You have to run away sometimes?"

"Better to live to fight another day than senselessly sacrifice your life."

"Okay."

"Glad you understand."

We walk along for a few minutes in silence before Nomida talks again.

"K… kazuma-kun."

"What's going on?"

"I um… when are you going to teach me how to fight?"

"Soon, I promise you that. I'm not going to lie to you, Nomida-san, but you don't have the makings of a soldier right now." I say, with Nomida slightly curling up after hearing that. "You weren't up to par physically, so we're fixing that first. And before you talk about the IS, I know you did decently in the class representative battle, but that's because the IS makes for a hell of an equalizer. You've got some basics down which makes you okay. But okay won't cut it on the battlefield. You've got to be the best of the best and sometimes that alone isn't even enough. So if you think that it's that I don't believe in you, that's not it. What I want is for you not to be another casualty, but to also not be a hindrance on the team. And for that, you need to get better."

"Mhm… okay, I think I understand."

"Good. Don't worry though, I don't expect you to suddenly take the top ranks in athletics. To be honest, for you, being somewhere around Reinhardt's level will be acceptable. For now."

"For now?"

"Nomida-san, look, it's a fact that men tend to be physically stronger than women. It's just the way we're built. Raw physical ability will only get you two so far. So, once you get to that point, I'm going to teach you how to fight better. Both of you. You can't rely on physical strength, so you'll have to rely on skill. And again, this is because it's entirely possible that you may have to eject from an IS, and neither of you are representatives, so you don't have a personal IS unit. You may have to clear a path to get an IS. The world don't give a damn how good of a pilot you are if you can't even fight your way into an IS, and most soldiers tend to be men, _fully_ grown men, mind you, so you're going to be at a disadvantage. That is of course, if you're forced into hand to hand outside an IS. Avoiding that is obviously your number one priority."

"O… okay. Kazuma-kun, I have to ask though… you're our age, so… how is it that you know all of this? I just wonder what kind of life you had."

I sigh, shaking my head. "I already told you, right? I've got blood on my hands, that's about all I can say. Or perhaps, I can say a little more… that the world is a terrible, cruel place sometimes, and there are plenty of horrid people who try to pass on their legacy by breaking innocents and then filling their minds with their malice, but sometimes we don't break."

It definitely wasn't pretty. The African wastelands, having been grabbed during a trip. I'm fairly sure that it was my parents who thought we should go on a safari adventure, only to end up losing me. Who the hell knows what happened to them, anyways?

But they tried to raise us to be child soldiers. I'd seen it happen to the others. They'd break and become the monsters we had been taken by. An endless cycle. I managed not to break. I don't know how it was, what I held onto, but some part of me wouldn't let it happen. Maybe I got a lucky break since I had a natural inclination to machines, so I think I might have gotten put on repair duty more often than not.

I've pushed it out of my head so many times at this point. It's not a fond memory. I hate those days. But they've made me who I am.

"—za-san?"

Ah.

"Sorry, I zoned out. You… well, I remembered something that isn't exactly nice."

"I'm sorry, did I—"

"Don't blame yourself." I quickly snap back with a bit more force than I intended. "...sorry."

"Kazuma-kun, you've had to go through painful things, haven't you…"

"Yeah. It's what made me what I am today. No sense in hiding that. So let that help you convince yourself to listen to me. That way you don't have to go through what I went through."

"Y… yes, thank you, Kazuma-kun."

I really wonder sometimes, if Nomida is going to be able to make it. There's a chance that my training will make her quit piloting. Or she might just walk away from this and say 'I don't need all of this, I can be a better pilot by myself'. Either way, I'd let her go. It's not up to me to decide what she should do unless she tells me to.

Then again, maybe I'm going about this wrong. After all, it's not like I was ever truly formal military. I can't speak for real soldiers. But I can speak for all of us who had to claw our way to another day of life, what it's like in the pits of hell. And if she can endure that, then I'm sure she can also endure being a soldier.

"Anyways, let's head up to your room."

"All right…"

The morning after, I go on my usual morning run with Reinhardt, as relative peace has been restored to the school. There are a few more people that take notice of us though, likely because of me. It's not like it's any secret what happened the other day with the golem and even if it's been a while, it doesn't erase the memory so easily. There's also been some rumors that Mei and I were actually deployed to attack whoever was behind the golem, but we've done nothing about them. It does wonders for our cover.

But still, it has been a bit of a pain. Especially for the ones in our class.

We are a bit of a… _squad_ , if one would like to call it that. We have hung around each other long enough and everyone associates them with the others, especially me. It seems public opinion of me has changed as well. While there were those that were openly hostile to me, that no longer seems to be the case.

After all, my actions during the golem incident cannot be denied seeing as it was in front of hundreds of people. Neither can it be called a fluke, nor can anyone say it was only through someone else that I succeeded.

In short, they had to accept not only a operative _on foot_ , but a _male_ operative fought that golem. Thus, their fragile worldview has been recently falling apart. It at least makes it less a pain in the ass.

"You've been improving." I say to Reinhardt, who had less trouble keeping up today, as we do our stretches over by the dorms.

"Well, to be honest, I've been trying harder since that day. Because… I've made my choice. I thought about your words that day, when you left for a bit. I want to be at tip-top shape."

"Good to hear."

"Nomida talked to me as well, along with Cayden. If I can spend less time with physical training and more time training in combat, the better, right?"

"I suppose. I would like to start you two together, but that might change. I don't have a solid plan."

From what I've been hearing, those who were with me seem to have taken the week to really put themselves together. If they're willing to stick with me, then they'll at least learn to become competent fighters.

Of course, this means they _all_ need to start coming to physical training.

"...I don't like the look on your face, Kazuma-san."

"Oh, it's nothing."

"I don't think it's _nothing_."

"Just, well, if we're going to be a squad, as I've been hearing, then everyone's going to be brought up to snuff."

"Don't be too rough on them…"

"I won't be any rougher than what reality will do to them."

"Just… make sure they can at least attend class and pay attention, as your class representative."

"Understood."

"Somehow, I get a feeling I'm going to regret that wording."

"You won't, trust me."

The rest of the day goes by without much trouble. Since it's Tuesday, Nomida has kendo so I head straight to my room as I don't have to train her today. It seems I'm alone as well, as Mei texts me saying that she's going to go spar with Reinhardt.

Good.

That should buy me some time, as I don't want to drag Mei into this.

With that, I start pulling up articles, checking the times and everything, all about the rise of the IS and news articles when the IS first started coming into relevance.

It's been bugging me for a while now, but after this last mission… knowing there's someone using the IS _and_ ACs out there, I want to get as close as I can to the bottom of this. That unit… an upgraded Blue Tears. Considering how IS tech seems to be a closely guarded secret, it's likely that unit was stolen from Britain. Either that, or Britain has its own black operations division that is fielding NEXTs. However, _why_ have a factory out there in the African wastelands? The distance between them would allow for some plausible deniability, but it's still odd.

However, it's much easier just to pay off a mercenary than keep your own in-house operators for this sort of thing. Especially since there were _plenty_ of them out there. It's not like it was hard to get a hold of any of them, plus it'd be easy to set up personas that simply exists for interfacing with mercenaries without betraying the actual country of origin. So, I think it's more likely that the operative there was not allied with Britain.

I see…

The most striking distance between the AC and IS, in terms of their pilots. If we take NEXT pilots to be comparable to Representative Cadets and Pilots, then it becomes clear. With a NEXT, a pilot's practically custom unit, if it were to be stolen and used elsewhere, you can sure as hell bet that someone would raise noise about it, especially because it would affect a particular pilot's reputation and definitely earn them some enemies based on what their stolen unit did. This is why there was a lot of hell raised when Sea Glass arrived and a whole slew of regulations came afterwards, because they didn't want random NEXTs just popping up around everywhere, as each NEXT is practically a walking _nuke_ if you want to draw that equivalence. Even with our precautions, Orbital Static and Sky Receiver are documented and technically the pilots are still sought after, similar to several other NEXTs that occasionally pop up in other areas of the world. It's a way for the world to make sure that if someone's got a weapon like a NEXT, then people are at least going to know about them.

But if I take that the operative there was not allied with Britain, and that by being a clearly superior version of Blue Tears was likely _stolen_ or at least, the data itself was stolen, no one is reporting shit. The culture of the IS in general has been all about secrecy. Everyone is trying to one up the other because now _nations_ rather than _companies_ make their equipment. With the way things were before, you could commission custom equipment but that was incredibly pricey. It was better just to buy standard equipment, tune your AC, and become really damn good at using it. So everyone's loadout was rather well known, or at least, their preferred loadout. Not even Sea Glass is different in that regard, but we were careful about buying our products, even to the point of _robbing_ parts shipments to ensure that it couldn't be traced to us. But now the loadout has become a matter of national security, so everyone's keeping tightlipped. More tightlipped than how companies developed their tech, anyways.

It's similar to when companies started getting hacked, I believe. Everyone kept quiet about it because no one wanted to be the ones to admit anything. Even _if_ that pilot was allied with Britain, who would actually admit to breaking the Alaska Treaty, which is fragile enough as it is? In short, the world of the IS is _perfect_ for keeping everyone quiet. No one wants to admit anything going wrong with their IS endeavors, it's a matter of national pride now.

And it lines up perfectly with the media campaign, which now all the more smells more and more like it was targeted and deliberate. I suspected an organization similar to Hidden Hand was behind this, so…

...alright, let's think about it. It's unlikely we were the largest secret organization on the globe. Due to the parts manufacturing, it's likely they're large enough resource wise to be producing their own NEXT parts or they're working with a corporation under the table. Either way, it's likely this organization was fielding NEXTs to begin with and now they've shifted to using the IS. That means I should start searching for additional sightings or reports of unidentified NEXTs… if it wasn't for the fact Sea Glass was the last big one. They're likely utilizing surgical strikes, avoiding high-profile targets to avoid being spotted. No survivors is likely another policy of theirs when using NEXTs. Hidden Hand worked with a similar modus operandi. If possible, we would utilize our shell companies and deploy with those, but in cases of urgency we would use our own units, in which case, yes, no survivors was the norm. Sea Glass was only deployed since we didn't have anything else to punch through the fleets inbound and likely, because we'd be risking our ship being detected. And similarly to our other units, Sea Glass is now in a database somewhere, even if the pilot is unknown. I suppose I could check to see if I can find other units "at large", but it will be tricky. But compare that to an IS. I am sure if I were to say I saw an unidentified IS flying around somewhere in Africa, I'd be laughed off. The countries in question would immediately deny their IS was in that airspace and if I dropped that it was similar to Blue Tears, Britain would defend itself.

In short, everyone would keep quiet.

It sounds like a massive conspiracy, but I can sort of piece together the picture. Whoever this organization is, they saw the potential the IS had. Tabane Shinonono unveiled it, yes, and then shipped the cores off to the countries of the world. According to the articles, not every country was very accepting of them at first. But _then_ the articles began to pick up. Almost like it was coordinated. Article after article about the IS replacing the NEXT due to smaller size, having a better handle on them, some of them even slandering NEXT pilots. The word _mercenary_ was used to great effect, painting a picture of people who killed for money, making us sound almost like assassins. As if there was some kind of shame in a practice that had been in effect for years now. I suppose it made an appeal towards peace—get away from this society where killing for money is accepted.

It all seems very deliberate as I line up the timeframes. Then, because of this shift, and that now IS technology was a matter of national security compared to the semi-public corporations and NEXT pilots with their tech, everyone became hushhush over things. And that leads to today.

God _fucking_ dammit…

...this just makes me incredibly bitter, because if I had won that day, perhaps the fact I had to retreat would not have been exploited. That day was used to great effect. That the IS could triumph over a NEXT. If they had just allowed me to win…!

Gah, no, let's not think about that.

Like I said, it sounds conspiratorial. But someone realized the potential the IS had when Tabane Shinonono sent them out to countries and capitalized on it. They could steal ISes and tech and everyone might keep quiet about it for a long time, or at least, until someone changes the way of thinking in the world. It highly benefits them because they now have a more covert unit as compared to a NEXT. And if you push the NEXT out of the picture entirely, you get rid of likely the biggest threat to the IS.

It sounds rather silly, but yet it makes some semblance of sense to me. That's about the only reason I can think of the IS replacing the NEXT that lines all the pieces up. The sudden change in culture, us being dropped, that's all I can go off on. I can understand why they'd drop contracts though as well. We _are_ hired guns. Our loyalty can change with enough money.

But now every country can field its own superweapon and keep it a secret. Everything is kept in-house. There's no chance of say, France hiring us to strike at Russia, and then Russia hacking us in order to get the data to find out France was the one who hired us. They don't even have to register it or anything. If the US wanted a NEXT pilot themselves, they'd build the unit and then they'd have to register it, similarly to a company, since everyone wants to keep track of where the hell these walking weapons of mass destruction are. Hence why it was easier just to hire a mercenary company since that kept the dirt more off of you. With an IS… no one knows who is who.

But that doesn't seem to excuse everything. It's likely a group of factors, but I still want to hold onto that other organization idea. I'm sure there's more to it, such as actual practical effects too, such as the IS being easier to transport, maintain, sortie, resupply, and it being less fatal over all. That was likely another component, too.

Regardless, I can't deny there was a coordinated effort to push the NEXT, despite all of its advantages over the IS, out of the picture. Someone _wants_ the NEXTs out of the way.

...I'll have to send it to MT somehow, one way or another. But then again if I was able to do this, they likely know, too. I guess that means I'm on my own for this one. If it comes up I'll share my findings, but until then I guess it's better just to keep my head low.

Either way, what a right mess this has turned out to be. I can only hope it doesn't get any worse, but with the way things are going, I don't quite see that not happening.

I lean back in my chair and sigh, shaking my head. There's just so much to think about. Granted, I'm not supposed to be thinking about it, but it's not like I can just stop. It concerns me, it concerns Hidden Hand, and it concerns Mei as well. This isn't something that any of us can just ignore.

And yet, neither can I do anything about it. I'm powerless, despite being Hidden Hand's ace in the hole, both in and out of the AC. All that's left to do is just wait, then. Wait, hope, and pray that whenever I get called to action or to report in, that it won't be too late to do something.

For now though, I'll just have to blend in. Which means drawing up training exercises for our little squad…

...I hope they're all ready to survive hell.

* * *

 **Wheee.**

 **So, this chapter was kind of 'eh' actionwise and very much on the short side of things. I think it was a nice compliment to the previous chapters, sort of one of the chapters where people just get to sit down and think for a bit and analyze why they're fighting. Originally I was going to have a chapter sort of dedicated to each person to give them an arc, almost like an anime, but then wanted to challenge myself to do all of their coming-to-battle arcs in union. Probably mixed success there. As for the shortness, my burnout happened after I wrote the part where Kazuma thought about what caused the IS to take over, so I cut it short so I wouldn't end up writing something really shitty.**

 **There has been quite a bit of focus on Nomida and Reinhardt though, so I may try to change that with the upcoming chapters. I think it mainly has to deal with the fact they're the pilots; if Weiss hadn't been around they likely would have filled the "protagonist" shoes. Reinhardt has leadership qualities and Nomida is her foil and number two. I'll try to include more of Lisarene/Stoneson later on, though.**

 **Anyways, the really big part of this chapter was Weiss' discovery at the end. Or at least, his theory. A lot of you had brought up that it seems incredibly** _ **strange**_ **for the AC to suddenly be replaced when it clearly shows supremacy over the IS. This had been planned to be revealed later, but since enough people found themselves curious, I moved it up.**

 **Weiss details what might have been a coordinated push in the media to get the AC looked down on, along with an appeal to nations to keep their tech more of a secret. I tried to think about the world of the AC and whatnot; it's evident that people had no issue piloting for money and killing each other over it. It was a professional business and with last chapter, there's still remnants of mercenary groups running AC missions. Compare that to the IS-canon, wherein you don't have these sort of things, but you do have Phantom Task. The IS is essentially part of a country's military and is treated as such, kept under wraps technology wise and with an air of secrecy.**

 **Weiss has also noted regulations and other things that affect AC pilots, while in IS there are relatively few constraints, likely due to there not being enough precedent cases to form a solid body of law for rules regarding them. Meanwhile the AC has clearly been around for a while and so it** _ **does**_ **have limitations. In essence, the IS was a way for countries to take back some military power that had been outsourced and also start getting ahead of others. Weiss also notes an appeal to peace, as they started attacking the concept of mercenaries, you know, sort of like "hey wouldn't it be nice if you didn't have people running around killing each other for money as a legitimate job".**

 **But in short, Weiss surmises that it was all of these factors that were being exploited by someone behind the scenes in order to remove the AC. Weiss being forced to retreat by a command didn't help either, as it was capitalized on. So, it wasn't exactly** _ **natural**_ **, but rather someone helping to pull strings behind the scenes. I hope that was a good enough explanation in-story, or at least one theory presented in story, but it was something that would make sense to Weiss, or at least with what he has at the time. It seems plausible at least, as the AC clearly has the advantage over the IS, so it had to be something** _ **other**_ **than raw combat ability. There were things to consider, such as culture, what an AC vs an IS meant to a nation's army, and whatnot. Also in the chapter where Weiss beats up on the punching bag, he does consider the fact the IS took over as his fault, Sea Glass losing to White Knight would have** _ **heavily**_ **pushed for the IS to rise as well.**

 **I hope it doesn't seem too contrived, but it's just another aspect of the mystery that I was hoping to build. Let me know what you guys think of it, and see you next chapter!**


	10. Mo' Money, Mo' Problems

**So like, junior year was fun. And by that I mean not fun. Like four different projects, exams, and on top of that, apartment hunting all together. AKA why this story didn't make it out for a loooooooong time.**

 **Definitely also not because I was starting like four different works too, that are all in various states of planning because the ideas don't stop coming.**

 **Either way, currently on vacation (or trying to be) before I start working for the summer. Maybe I can actually squeeze an update out in a month, or, God forbid,** _ **two weeks**_ **, you know, how often I used to update? Geez.**

 **First thing though, REVIEW REPLY TIME, GOOO!**

 **BrokenLifecycle:** I enjoy them too, and frankly I think the base work of Infinite Stratos could use a lot more. There's a _lot_ to be dug into, most of it just implications and broad strokes that Ichika mentions. There's things like military service being impacted, what politics looks like, how raising kids is affected, but we don't really get to touch it. I'm glad you liked it, this one's a bit like that but more character-based.

 **Kerlongsj Evert Orlejov:** Haha, yeah, the VN is… coming along-ish. Someday. I hope it's done soon. Thanks for the review, and yeah, I did like exploring the differences between the two, as they are essentially foils on what they think strength is. Thanks for reading!

 **DDXIII:** Sorry for taking so long to get this one out, ugh, college. Maybe I should start actually writing these down on physical paper and then typing them up to speed updates up. But yeah, I've hinted to some things about the IS taking over, but I really do think that if it came down to it, the NEXTs would dominate the IS. Thanks for stopping by!

 **Grinja:** Yep, he'll definitely have to think about that, AKA I will need to do my reading, haha. Thanks for reading!

 **Edrap:** Hmhmhm, I wonder~

 **Alright, that should be everyone for last chapter. Let me know if I missed you! This chapter is fairly short, blegh, I wish it were longer, but it was just a slog to write it alongside all of the stuff going.**

* * *

 **Chapter 10:** Mo' Money, Mo' Problems

* * *

"Alpha Three, targets coming in from three o'clock, Alpha Four, eleven o'clock! They've got laser weapons, please use Type Two shielding—alert, we've got another dropship incoming, Bravo Seven, I need anti-aircraft fire on—attention, we're being overrun in Sector Eleven, Bravo Seven retreat and—"

Stoneson starts to panic as I start messing with the simulation. Even though she's well aware it's a simulation, to her it feels incredibly real. While this isn't an IS simulation yet, I want her to be able to see a situation like this and remain calm.

After all, if she can't even remain calm when it's a bunch of strangers she's being an operator for, how much for when someone she actually knows is on the line?

"—Sector Eleven has been compromised, we've lost our last SAM site on Ring Two. All units, please retreat back to Ring One sites."

I then detonate Alpha Three's fuel tank, taking out a few of their forces, along with damaging their power grid, leaving them open to an attack.

"Alpha Three, your power's down! Be careful when withdrawi—Alpha Four, bombers inbound, please watch yourselves!"

She suffers about a twenty five percent loss in her units while pulling away due to the lack of shielding. I have the simulation spawn in another dropship. Additionally, I make another note of the time elapsed when she said 'please' since the start of the simulation.

"How many of these things are there…?! A-alpha Four, bombers are in position, pl—"

She stops talking as the bombers drop their payload, extinguishing Alpha Four.

"—Zero Base, we've lost Alpha Four. Understood. All units, please continue the retreat. Focus on the retreat. We will hold the line in friendly controlled territory."

The rest of the simulation goes by, with Stoneson lasting approximately twenty two minutes.

"Good job."

"I don't feel good…"

"You lasted longer than I thought you would." I say as she takes off the headset. "Let's go over a few things. First off, you're not a mother."

"W-wha—"

I roll back through the audio recordings. Every time she says 'please', that sort of thing.

"Cut out all of your pleases. Every millisecond you're speaking is important. You can't waste your time saying 'please'. Let them know what is important and nothing more than that. They'll thank you for keeping them alive, not for being motherly."

"I… I see…"

"That isn't saying you have to become a hardass, either. You just have to learn where to cut things in order to save time and more importantly, lives. No one's going to be able to thank you for saying 'please get to cover' if they're dead because you said please."

Stoneson hangs her head, looking off to the side.

"Though I have to say I'm pleasantly surprised. You kept your cool. You didn't seem like you were about to go hysterical despite all the chaos." I say, gesturing for her to get up from her seat. "You seen something like this before?"

"Erm, well...no. It's just… I've been the first responder to a few accidents before. I'm used to having to take charge. Couldn't just let it happen, you know?"

"Ah, I see. You seemed like you were naturally giving orders, so I thought you might have seen something like this. But it looks like I don't have to drill motivation or discipline into you, just the mechanics."

"Mhm."

"Pick your head up and look at me, Stoneson. You've nothing to be ashamed of, anyways." I say, going over to her and putting a finger below her chin to lift her head. "What's important is you understand your mistakes and fix them. Right here, right now, you can still make mistakes and it won't have consequences. So improve—and then, when it really counts, you can flawlessly carry your squad or partner to victory."

She takes a small, nervous step away from me and nods eagerly. "Yes, sir!"

"Don't 'sir' me." I mutter, although really, even though I tell that to these girls they do it regardless. Even Reinhardt keeps slipping up about it.

Mei calls it cute, but it is kind of annoying sometimes when I've told them very specifically not to do it. Besides, it's not like I was particularly high up on the chain. Mei and I were effectively at the bottom of the ladder, it's just that we're incredibly skilled on the field. There was absolutely no reason to promote us to officer positions and give us officer duties when our strengths were out on the live battlefield.

That isn't to say that the officers of Hidden Hand can't hold their own, but best to keep specialists doing their thing.

"I can't help it, you're kind of like a drill sergeant in movies." Stoneson says as she walks with me out of the simulation room. "Rough, yells at us, but ultimately what he teaches you ends up saving your life."

"Trust me, Stoneson, you don't want to see my drill sergeant style."

She giggles at this. "I don't think anyone does, Kazuma."

Similar to Reinhardt, due to Western influences we don't use honorifics while in private. Granted, to avoid the rumor mill, we still use them in public. Honestly, it's already a mess enough dealing with this whole 'Kazuma Reinhardt Nomida' love triangle bullshit that's suddenly come up.

Seriously, these girls really need to have some other kind of man in their lives other than me or the teachers.

"Oh, are you getting dinner now, though?"

"Yeah, why?" I ask, eyes scanning the hall.

"I figured you'd be off with either Reinhardt or Nomida."

"Goddammit." I mutter, with Stoneson having a small laugh at this. "It's only because those two are pilots that I spend so much time around them. I have to drill it into their heads that they're piloting machines of war. I've seen too many AC pilots go in without that kind of mentality to just let them go off without an adequate warning and understanding."

"I see, I see." She says, though her face is less believing and more trying to hold back a smile. "But you know, guys who toy with the hearts of multiple girls are no good."

"Oh shut up."

She giggles at this, nudging me in the ribs. "Don't worry, I'm sure you're not that kind of guy. You don't particularly strike me as someone like that."

"And what kind of guy do I strike you as?"

"Hmm…" She puts a finger to her chin as we enter the cafeteria. "Kind of stubborn, really. A good kind of guy, but also kind of ruthless. Like, head of the disciplinary committee kind of guy, but has a soft heart for his middle school sister."

I give a snort at this as we fall in line to order our food. It's not particularly busy tonight, so I guess we're just a little before the big dinner rush. Checking my watch confirms this, so we can talk a little freely without worrying about the rumor mill too much.

"I'll take that as a compliment, I guess."

"Hehhehheh, what, are you going to try to be on the disciplinary committee now or something?"

"God, no. Officer positions aren't my thing. I prefer to be on the field, where I thrive. Besides, I don't want to be pushing papers all day. My hands are made for more than just signing off on things."

"A real go-getter, huh?"

"You could say tha—oh, I'll have the baked chicken special." I say, pausing to give my order. Stoneson puts her order in for the soup of the day along with a cup for soda, and we go off to find a table. "Like I was saying, you could say that. Sitting around and twiddling my thumbs is not exactly my ideal working condition."

"Hmm, I guess that's fitting of a guy like you."

"Enough about me, though."

"Oh, you want to know a bit about me?" She smiles, putting her hand to her chin again and tilting her head. Honestly that looks very, very rehearsed. "Well, my three sizes are—"

I reach over and flick her right on the forehead, with Stoneson giving a very surprised "Gah!" in return.

"That was for making the most obvious joke." I say with a very unamused look on my face. "It's cliche and you should feel bad."

She gives me an incredulous look before laughing. "Okay, so my panti—"

Another flick.

"Honestly, you're just as bad as Cayden is sometimes." I mutter, shaking my head. "Have you no shame?"

"No, but I just wanted to see if I could tease you. I guess you really are the iron wall that everyone calls you."

"Iron wall?"

"You should really pay attention to the ru—oh, hey, our food's ready."

With that, we go and get our food, going back to our table and sitting down. I take this as a good conversation reset and push again.

"So, I did want to understand one thing about you. Probably the most important thing, seeing as you were asking to be trained under me."

"Hm?"

"Why did you come to IS Academy?"

With that question, I see Stoneson's normally cheery outlook take a bit of a nosedive. For a fraction of a second her face looks conflicted. I see her right hand, holding her spoon, suddenly tighten up. It's sensitive information.

"If you don't want to talk about it out here, that's fine. Everyone has things they can't talk about."

"Yeah, sorry… it might be like you, you know? You can't tell us everything, so…"

I try not to raise an eyebrow at this. As far as I know for Stoneson, she seems to be completely normal. The way she talks and acts in class doesn't give me anything special. Not to mention she's apparently taking the operator path, which while it's still mixed in with piloting, doesn't focus on piloting as much. Perhaps I should have requested a dossier on her.

We eat our meal in relatively silence after that and then start heading back to the dorms. It's a pretty quiet walk, with neither of us saying anything.

"Hey…"

The silence is broken though, by Stoneson calling out.

"Stoneson?" I ask, readying for something to happen. There's really no one out here in the late afternoon, as I imagine most people are eating now.

"Um, about earlier. The whole 'why I'm here' thing. It's um, not that I can't say anything, but rather that it's just kind of sensitive to me."

"You don't have to tell me, then."

"I know, but it's just… you know why Reinhardt-san and Nomida-san are fighting, right? They've talked to me about it too, so… if I'm going to be a team with them, it's not fair that I get to play in secret."

"I see." I turn around and face Stoneson, who looks up at my face and then turns away. "Let's go find a bench. Won't be disturbed that way."

We spend about two minutes searching for one that's far enough off the general pathways that we won't be easily eavesdropped on.

"So?" I ask, leaning on the back on the bench as I'm standing behind it so I can see if anyone's coming around. Meanwhile, Stoneson's just sitting on the bench, probably trying to figure out how to tell me this. I am kind of glad that she's come around, moreso that she's come to understand, whether it be my talks or my actions, that she's got to be part of the team.

"Well, it's nothing special, but…"

"The reasons we fight don't have to be special. There's plenty of people who will just fight for money."

"Mhm."

I wait for about thirty more seconds before I hear an inhale from Stoneston.

She starts speaking incredibly quickly. "It's just… I don't want to invalidate all the work everyone's done. All the sacrifices made to get me where I am today, I don't want to run away or give up because all of their effort will have been for nothing."

I nod. One of those types, huh?

"So who made sacrifices for you?"

"My parents…"

"I see."

"It's, well… we're not exactly the most connected or richest, but we try our best. And—"

"Hold on, I see some people coming around." I say, cutting her off. I immediately start making up some small speech about how the sea breeze, the humidity, and everything like that can affect a sniper's shot, and keep talking until the three girls that are walking by are definitely out of earshot. "Sorry."

"It's fine. But you know, if you get involved with the IS, you can be really rich, right?"

"I suppose."

"My compatibility was really low though, but I thought I could become an operator, and it sounded like it might be good work. There's always free seminars, but they don't really help, so my parents paid to have me take classes on getting into the Academy. So I can't turn away now, because I have to get through things for them. That way, I can pay them back for everything. It's always been their dream, anyways, to have the house redone, maybe take in a few more kids, put them through college and everything… as their daughter, I definitely need to help them with that. And they gave so much… I can't just toss it aside."

She laughs.

"I'm no good, right? It's really just… for money, if you look at it. And you've tried to tell us so much about killing and how the battlefield is like, yet..."

"No."

My rather forceful way of saying it seems to catch Stoneson off guard.

"If you want to be technical about it, yes, it is about money. However, there are two types of people who fight for money. Those who do it just for the sake of money, and those who do it with the express intent of raising money for a cause. The latter of the two is what you are. And that makes all the difference."

There's an thick silence that pervades the air before Stoneson starts giggling.

"Thanks, Kazuma. You really know how to cheer a gal up."

"You don't have to thank me for telling the truth. You shouldn't confuse yourself with those who kill purely for money, just to have money."

"Ah… weren't you a mercenary, though? From what you've said…"

"There's no denying that I have taken contracts to make money. Well, Cayden and I, to be precise. It's a job. You could say I was the first of those types. Fighting and killing, or at least having a direct hand in it, to the point that I would be clearly a non-civilian, as a means of living, not putting that money towards a particular reason."

Stoneson leans towards me. "You know…"

"What is it?"

"You shouldn't put yourself down like that."

"Hm?"

Stoneson gets up from the bench with a small, enigmatic smile. "It's just a girl thing, Kazuma. Or maybe something I picked up from mom. Lying about yourself like that is no good."

I give a snort. I suppose that I'm not like that. No, it was even worse. I killed and fought and piloted out of fear. Fear that a worse fate would befall me, back when I was a child soldier in Africa, before Hidden Hand. How people did I kill as _Dark Breeze_ , hoping that I myself wouldn't be executed or _worse_ by that group's hand?

"So why do you fight, Kazuma?"

I'm brought out of my dark spiral by Stoneson leaning up next to me and looking right into my eyes. I take a step away and start walking, with her following me.

"I'm a professional, it's what I do."

"There's a cause underneath it though, right?"

This girl's annoying. She's the kind of girl who can feel what's wrong. She doesn't even need special techniques, psychological training, training to read microexpressions. She's just someone who can feel things on a gut level. The worst kind of person to deal with.

I stop in my tracks, Stoneson bumping into me.

"Kazuma?"

"If you want something so you'll stop bothering me, I'll simply say loyalty. But I still will not deny that I'm the first of the two types I told you. It's why I know the battlefield so well."

With that, I start walking away from her. I suppose it's true. I couldn't look at my actions through the lens of "I'm doing this for peace", "I'm doing this so those kids my have a better place to live", "I'm doing this because I will protect my loved ones". I was forced to see every death not as a step towards a vision, but as a sacrifice for myself. A sacrifice so I could live another day.

So, Stoneson, be glad you don't have to learn about things that way. You'll be able to justify your acts as well.

"Hey… Kazuma?"

"Hm?"

"Um… maybe you don't think I'm ready to hear what you mean by that."

You definitely aren't.

"But… someday, okay?"

"Someday… what?"

"Someday, explain it to me, okay? It seems like it's really weighing down on you, so I'll listen, m'kay?"

I feel a brief nudge to my side as she passes me, turning around to flash a smile.

"I've been watching you for a while now. Being harsh with Nomida, being strict with Cayden, the way you treat Reinhardt, the way you sometimes look down on others. You really do care for anyone who's going to march out there. But also… you don't have to make the world hate you, you know? Whatever makes you think like the world should crucify you, I'll listen to it when you're ready."

Once again, I utterly dislike women like this. She's not even trained, most likely, in this sort of thing. She operates entirely on gut instinct. That isn't to say I don't trust my gut, but she's someone who can see past everyone's illusions, everyone's masks, just by being around them. Like a living, breathing, heart of the people. How bothersome.

"Anyways, I have to get to studying. See you around!"

As I watch her jog away, I can't help but wonder… if only you knew, Stoneson. If only you knew that the reason you're the way you are is because I failed all those years ago.

You wouldn't ever have to had set foot on a battlefield if I had only grasped victory.

I wonder… could you still smile at me like that, if you knew?

* * *

"You look upset." Mei says, closing her magazine.

"Do I?" I say as I drop my bag on my bed, Mei already in her sleepwear. "By the way would it kill you to put on a bra?"

"Actually, yes. Besides, they're nothing you haven't seen before. What, you suddenly getting embarrassed now?" she says, quickly changing her pose on her bed to be as if she was trying to seduce someone. "Come, take me, Weiss."

"It's rather that I fear you'll get too complacent and you'll end up having to do extra laps as punishment." I fire back, taking off my jacket.

"Hehe. So, what's got you all hot and bothered? Nomida finally work up the courage to kiss you?"

"We both know I was helping Stoneson train, so shut your mouth."

"Ah, right. So, she said something, didn't she?"

"...yeah."

Mei immediately sits up and pats the bed next to her. "Sit down, Weiss. Lemme hear it."

As I do so, she hugs me from behind.

"Sometimes, I wonder why you didn't become as screwed up as me." I mumble as I feel her head rest on my right shoulder.

"Well, maybe it's because it wasn't my hand. I might have been someone who helped you, but in the end…"

I look down at my hands and nod. "...it was still me pulling the trigger."

Mei knows the battlefield too. We've both actually killed, especially for Hidden Hand. But compared to me, Mei has far less blood on her hands. And if I am successful, she will never have that much blood on her hands. That isn't to say I regret and am remorseful for every kill I've made. I understand why I did it. I know why I did it. And it is because I did not have any fancy ideals about it, I will never doubt whether or not it was right to kill for my ideal.

I will never have to wonder if it was alright to kill ten pilots for peace. I will never have to worry if a woman would still love me as I slaughtered many as her 'knight'. I will never have to worry if my cause is worth the death of thousands.

"It's okay, Weiss. I'll be here for you."

The only thing I will have to worry about is that Mei is here.

"Thanks, Mei."

We stay like that for a while before I get up, breaking out of Mei's embrace.

"I should finish my homework."

"Okay. Don't be afraid to tell me if you need help. And also make sure you take your medication."

"I know. I'll take it after I shower."

After said shower, I pour myself a glass of water and open up the canister, shaking a pill out. I down it and the water afterwards before setting the water down. A few days ago, MT contacted us and said they had something for me. Apparently the medical team was concerned that the sudden use of _Orbital Static_ might set off some of the effects of Synchronization Sickness. Geez, the old four oh three four's a real pain in the ass, even though he's been dead for a while. I guess they really couldn't keep him down, after all.

Regardless, it's supposed to help counteract some of the memory bleed effects or something. Might help explain why I'm kind of screwed up in the head, too.

I don't feel any different after thirty minutes of taking the meds, so I just go back to doing my homework. It's not anything particularly difficult, seeing as how Mei has it harder with all of the piloting business. All of this Operator homework is a lot easier compared to that. Just time consuming, is all.

"Hey, Mei."

I can hear her pencil stop moving along her paper. "Huh? What's up, Weiss?"

"Did you ever think about why we fight?"

I can all but feel the smile she's got on her face. Dammit, this is why I hate people like Stoneson. They get under your skin and their words won't go away, and no matter how much you harden yourself, they find a way into your head. "Yeah, sometimes. It's our job, right?"

"Yes. That's right. It's our job." I repeat back, almost as if I was trying to convince myself that's all it was.

"But you know, Weiss, it's not just that. There was… something more."

"Mei?"

I turn to face her as I hear her get up from the chair. I don't stop her as she comes over and sits on my lap, even if it's too close for comfort.

"I'm still fighting because there's someone who I want to see come home safely, and keep seeing them come home time and time again until they don't ever have to be deployed on the battlefield anymore."

"...I see."

"Is this what you talked to Stoneson about?"

"Maybe."

"So yes."

"God, I hate that sometimes, you know that? How you women just can be all touchy feely and understand things like that."

"There's plenty of guys who can do that too, but I guess it's just a natural instinct. Besides, I think it's because Stoneson helps raising kids, she's got a knack for it. I doubt Reinhardt could pick up on that."

"Hmph."

"So Weiss, why do you fight?"

"Because it's my job." I fire back immediately.

"Mhm. You sure there's nothing else?"

I take a look at the girl in my lap. The one who I've wanted to protect since we ran into each other.

The day Mei became my partner in that camp. It happened completely by chance we were paired with each other. We hadn't broken yet, and we weren't going to let each other break. I think it was her eyes. They hadn't become glossed over yet, they weren't empty. There was still a spark of life left in them. And I guess she saw that spark in me.

They taught us how to kill. How to slaughter. Tried to rip the humanity from us. We put on a damn good show, too. If we didn't, we were next on the chopping block. Part of me realized then, that Mei was about the only person holding me back from becoming one of them. We kept on the down low. Be neither the best nor the worst. Maybe two or three higher than average. Just high enough not to get berated, just low enough not to be invited to the worst of the worst in terms of operations, to take part in the depravity.

Guess they managed to sniff her out, though. Top of the bunch managed to corner her. My guess was that they were going to break her down or something. So I killed them. Wasn't pretty. Must've been in the 'medical' area for a week. Got berated pretty hard for killing the supposed top dogs. I argued if they were really all that top dog, they should've killed me. Guess they figured I was insane enough to actually get into an Armored Core after a while too, even if it was a Normal before I got my hands on a NEXT.

She then would become my Operator, but things didn't change. In the end, I wanted to protect the person who was my motivation not to break. And I wanted to survive that hellhole with some semblance of my humanity. But in the end, I didn't really have a 'cause' like Stoneson. I was putting everyone else up as a sacrifice for just myself.

"Yeah. There's nothing else."

"Alright. Best to keep professional, right? You're going to be a professional IS Operator, so I guess it's really all about the money, huh?"

"There's been a villa that we once visited in France for an old client that I was eyeing. Figured it might be a nice place to retire to."

"A French villa? That's really cliche, even for you, Weiss." She says, nudging me in the ribs. "I was thinking a beach house, to be honest. Or a private island. Maybe make it a bit of an exclusive resort, too, just so we have some modern comforts."

"Sure, why not."

"Ehhhh?"

"Well." I say, leaning back in my chair. "I did promise to always have your back. I can't just leave you behind like that."

"You know, that sounds like a marriage proposal."

"Yeah, but who'd want to get married to you?"

Mei shoves me as she gets up off of me, laughing. "Alright, well, it looks like I've managed to at least cheer you up a little bit. Don't forget, I'm your partner."

"Thanks."

Always managing to save me from going off the deep end, aren't you?

"Anyways, I'm going to bed."

"I'll turn down the lights, then."

"Don't stay up too late, Weiss."

* * *

 _Thumwp._

"I don't remember asking for coffee." I mumble to myself, looking up and finding Reinhard standing in front of my desk.

"You missed our morning run, I figured something was up. Oversleep?" she asks, taking her own cup out of the cup holder and then tossing said holder into a recycling bin.

"You could say that."

Bad sleep again. Had a bit of a nightmare memory blender that the meds were supposed to stave off. At least I know what should haunt my dreams, the worst is when the bleedover from Synchronization Sickness is giving me the horrid shit that the previous 4034 had to witness and _do_. It's a hell of a trip, seeing things like that.

"Mooorning~"

As Stoneson passes by my desk, she gives me a pat on the shoulder and a small smile. When I look back and Reinhard, I see she's eyeing Stoneson.

"We had a talk yesterday. She feels like she's more part of the team now, so she's kind of not keeping her distance as much."

"I see."

Granted, that leaves only one person out of the group that first approached us. I should probably get the girls to try to rope her into something later, as well.

"She's a good Operator. Good instincts, just needs a bit of improvement on small details. She'll be a useful number two in the event I'm unable to play your Operator role. We'll likely begin team exercises with you two, along with her and Cayden, to get you all acquainted. Additionally, Stoneson!"

I heard some stumbling around and a chair being pushed back as she clearly scrambles to stand up straight, firing off a salute that earns decent marks but definitely a nitpick as well.

"S-sir!"

"Don't 'sir' me, I'll need your schedule in the next two days. Put everything regular on there, including clubs. I'll need to see where you all are available."

"What are you, an idol producer now?" Reinhardt says with a chuckle as she goes over to her seat.

Though, there's a distinct _gap_ in the class. The girls who decided to come after me and talk with me compared with the rest of the class… there's definitely a large gap there. But then again, for the ones who have talked with me so far, they definitely realize there's something more to the IS than just fighting for fame.

Mei obviously knows what it's like to fight.

Reinhardt and Nomida come from families that have some sort of tradition in combat; Reinhardt has military service, Nomida has her family's dojo. To them, fighting and serving is not just something to do on the side, but was fundamentally part of their lives.

Stoneson is the most normal of the bunch, but due to her times she's been a first responder, she understands what it means to hold someone's life in your hands. She's no pilot, but she's the best suited to be their operator.

The only mystery left is Lisarene. However… the way she carries herself, it would surprise me if she ended up being completely normal somehow. If she was _protected_ , then it means there's something more.

"Remind me I owe you your drink at lunch, Reinhardt-san."

"Don't mind it, can't have my operator being down and out, can I?"

I give a huff as I decide to sip from the coffee she got me. I'll have to hunt down Stoneson later, though.

"Hey, you hear the rumor, though?"

I turn around in my seat and look towards Stoneson, along with a few other girls.

"News came on late last night, but there's another male IS pilot."

I'm getting sloppy, I didn't even grab a newspaper this morning.

"Fill me in on the details. I've fallen a bit behind." I say immediately, with Stoneson looking a bit surprised.

Regardless, details are simple. It seems the French government decided to go public with the information that they had a male IS pilot. Name, Charles Dunoa, son of the head of Dunoa Corporations. More importantly, Dunoa Corporations, having merged with Rayleonard and BFF, creating a new type of unit.

I wonder if they'll reach out to Mei, considering her piloting in both areas according to her cover story. It would complicate things though, so if they do, we'll have to call MT over it before we decide on a course of action.

Either way, the latest rumors are that IS Academy is working double time to get him moved over here and fast. A bit surprising, but I guess technically they've probably beefed up security measures to deal with external threats.

If he is coming here, it's best I make good with him.

Unfortunately, Stoneson doesn't have much on things like his personality or what he's like, due to it all being hushhush. However, with the way things generally go, it's likely he'll side with Orimura and become friends with him. Hopefully, I can come up as more professional to Dunoa, and at least play nice with him. Then again it depends on how he views his father's company. If he doesn't like the AC, we might have a chasm between us which makes things difficult.

Well, either way, it seems I've got a lot to prepare for. Hopefully these somewhat peaceful days last, though.

* * *

 **Wow that took a while to get out. I keep blaming college, but yeah, junior year is a rough one. I also have an internship/work this summer, but my commute isn't ass, so I might** _ **actually**_ **have time to write! Imagine that. This chapter was also fairly short, but yes, blame me just wanting to get things moving again.**

 **Anyways, another exploration chapter where we got to take a bit of a deeper look into one of the other characters' heads. Stoneson in my mind is kind of the 'heart' so far. Easily more outgoing than Mei and the most 'normal' or at least implied to be the most normal of the bunch. Also her ways of not forcing things out of Weiss, but just kind of being able to feel them out was fun, too. For all of his ways of masking things, she's just got that touch.**

 **Of course, she needs a reason to be at IS Academy, so here we are. I dunno, it feels kind of refreshing to me. She's just an average-ish girl, who took to IS Academy like it was college: "I'm here to be successful and help pay for stuff", haha. Granted, it's not the most normal job, and then after Weiss' talk about fighting she's experienced some doubts.**

 **Thought to squeeze in a bit more of Weiss' backstory, sort of fuel that conflict in him where he's trying to reconcile his past self as a fighter and now the present self. He's trying to be that normal student, but he can't leave his past behind as it just keeps coming back to haunt him.**

 **Not too much action in this chapter, but I'll see if I can squeeze something in next time. Part of me realizes it'd be super easy to do a flashback, but like, yeah no. They don't really have much tension to them, haha. Who knooooows, though, what I'll come up with. Let me know what you guys think, and see you next time!**


	11. Noble Core

**Wew I was on FIRE writing this chapter, did it all in a few days. I've also started writing the next chapter on paper, too, as I have time while on the train. Maybe we'll actually get two updates this month!** _ **Le Gasp.**_

 **Anyways, not much else to say because well yeah, I don't need a long winded speech on how quick it was. Even with work and having a long commute and whatnot, I'm still good to go. As usual, review reply time, GOOOOOOOOO!**

 **Kerlongsj Evert Orlejov:** Thanks for the good luck wishes on the VN, almost there, I can taste it. I'm glad you enjoyed the talking aspect of the chapter, I'm trying to balance the whole "action to talking" chapter focus ratio. I'll see if I can drop by, maybe I'll try to catch it on my lunch break. Also yeah, Weiss' past is a huge mess, I feel like one of these days there's going to have to be a dedicated chapter that hammers out everything. I've been reading some of the older chapters and wondering if I've accidentally contradicted myself, so I'll have to take deeper notes rather than using the outlines I have. Thanks for reading!

 **Grinja:** You have no idea how much I want to write a fight like that too, but finding a not-shoehorned way of doing it is kind of rough, haha. But soon, hopefully enough. Maybe during a certain vacation scene, huehuehue. Thanks for stopping by!

 **Axcel:** Oh, I'm glad you read everything so far! Also yeah, trying to get the scaling down between NEXTs, Normals, and the IS was kind of hard, so sometimes it does stick out. Additionally, the "four oh three four" thing, yeah, that was a legit error on my part, but it rolls off the tongue so much better than "four zero three four". Rule of Cool, I suppose. Anyways, I'm glad you've enjoyed the story so far, and I hope that this chapter is to your liking!

 **With all that done, let's get started!**

* * *

 **Chapter 11:** Noble Core

* * *

" _I have eyes on you, Noble Core."_

Mei's voice crackles to life over the radio. As she's likely sitting in her little, more comfortable perch, I'm still covered in my wetwork suit and tree branches, made to help escape thermal imaging as well.

"Copy that. Black Alice?"

" _I read you, Noble Core."_

My hands twitch ever so slightly from my sniping perch. Normally I'd be greeting Charles Dunoa upon his arrival, but it seems like one of Hidden Hand's old associates called in a favor. Nice going on the cover, guys. Really nice.

"Good. I don't have a good idea of your position yet, though."

" _The northern watchtower."_ Says the operative we're to rescue from the _Black Rabbits_ , a German special operations force. I glance at my compass and look for the structure. _"Directly next to it is a warehouse. I'm currently near a side entrance, you won't be able to see me from your position."_

"Got it."

The mission was received halfway through the day. Mei and I were brought out during lunch time to bail them out. I don't know _what_ they were up to, but since Hidden Hand said yes, I can only assume it's a positive. In short, Black Rabbits, or the _Schwarzer Hase_ , had an operative behind enemy lines. Unfortunately, she's run into a bit of a snag: looks like they were beefing up the forces here.

Too big to do a quiet approach and take them all out with a small squad. Military, or well "military", will move in, but due to the mountainous terrain, makes it hard to move a large enough force too quietly. Due to the fact it's near some farmland, they don't want to send in a NEXT. Apparently the operative is an IS pilot too, but you know how it is with the Alaska Treaty. As far as I know this one's off the charts. Wouldn't want it to get out that an IS might be deployed here.

Point is, quietly extract the operative who's primed the place for an assault. As soon as she's clear, Black Rabbits will assault the compound under cover of night. MT wouldn't disclose who these guys were and just why the fuck there's a hidden goddamn _compound_ in the German mountains, just that I was supposed to get the operative out of there.

...but then again, why bring me here…?

"Alright, I see the warehouse."

" _I'm currently unable to move due to the eastern tower's spotlight cycle."_

"Do I take them out?"

" _Not yet. The eastern tower changes patrols in approximately four minutes."_

"It's too open, though." I say back, looking at the metal watch tower. There's stairs that circle up around the sides, but there's nowhere for me to get an actual shot in without them being noticed.

" _I know. However, three days ago I was able to infiltrate their supplies. They recently switched out the lights, so I'll be able to make one of the lights go dark. Drop them then."_

"Understood."

" _Once that happens, I believe we'll have two minutes before anyone notices anything. However, that cycle being frozen should give me enough time to make it to the eastern gate. There's a patrol of six men and two dogs."_

"Take out the dogs?"

" _Prioritize them, yes. I'll flash the acknowledgement signal when I want you to fire."_

"Understood. I'll keep eyes on the watch tower. Operator, give me weather conditions."

" _Noble Core, weather conditions are as follows…"_

Mei feeds me the information. I digest it all and prepare accordingly.

Just like clockwork, the swap happens. I see the old patrol go all the way down, far enough where they won't hear a drop.

" _Killing light."_

One of the spotlights begins to flicker, I see the three men up top start bickering. Likely about who's going to have to go and call a mechanic. I exhale and line up the shot.

" _Now."_

 _THWP!_

The first shot drops the one who turned away. As he hits the ground— _THWP—_ the second one drops dead as well. Just as the reaction is getting to the third— _THWP—_ he drops to the ground, eliminated.

"Go."

I watch as a small, silver haired girl with an eyepatch over her left eye makes a dash across the compound, moving cover to cover. She's got a sidearm and what looks to be an SMG as she makes a break for it.

—I see the acknowledgement light.

I drop both dogs as soon as possible— _"Warning, Noble C—"—_ then shoot one of the—

The night sky turns blue. The smell of smoke immediately alerts me to danger. I could feel the sheer heat from that laser… and more importantly a fire. It must have ignited the wood.

" _Leave the gun, retreat!"_

I grab my radio and escape pack and make a break for it. I duck below tree branches and try to blend in, hopefully throwing off my pursuer. Likely they're using thermal scans, so my suit is made to absorb heat, though if they get a visual on me I'll die. They probably barely missed me, too.

Going into the thick bushes, I stop moving and calm my breathing. Ha… alright, quiet now...

I can hear a soft drone of a thruster nearby. They're close. I can't fight back at all. Whoever it is what incredibly skilled. I doubt they had snipers posted around the base. It means we just got unlucky.

My mind goes into overdrive. The person in Africa, at the factory. It was an upgraded Blue Tears. Clearly a sniper. I might have had my own skills due to the hell training I received, further augmented by the previous 4034's sync with me, but this person… was still able to outmaneuver me.

The smoke is coming here, too. She's setting small fires with her laser rifle. Trying to smoke me out. She won't need thermal imaging if she can see me running. Not to mention the fire will definitely illuminate me.

I can't stay here for too long. I have to move.

Keeping my head down, I slowly crawl along the forest floor, submerging myself in the mud. It's cold, slimy, and wet… but it'll keep me alive.

Aw hell, she's got a searchlight, too…

I shift towards a tree and try to curl up near it, sticking in the mud. Don't look this way… shit…!

"Got'cha!"

I throw myself behind the tree, hearing it crackle and spark as the laser blast hits it, burning right through it. Keeping my head low as I rapidly crawl away, I hear those drone units rain fire from above. The forest ignites as I keep moving, hoping that the smoke and flames will at least mask my presence.

"F…" I let out a soft curse as I crawl out into a small clearing, trying to backpedal, but it's too late.

Only a quick reflex from my timer as a blader stops my head from being cooked. I immediately roll off to the side, hearing another barrage that ignites the wood once again. Shit, fuck…!

Ha… Ha…

"Fufahg!"

I yell as I try to move away once again, grabbing a flare from my side, but feel hard metal clamp down on my left leg. Fuck, shit, agh, that hurts! Fracture, if not broken, fuck!

"No more running."

With my free hand, I pop the flare cap off before striking it against the tree, as if to light a match, and throw it where I deduce the enemy's face to be. I hear a loud grumble of "Agh!" and the pressure on my leg being somewhat alleviated. I see the flare fall into the mud, fortunately not lighting up anything.

Over my headset, I hear something.

" _Close your eyes."_

I do so. Instead of my vision being filled with blue, I see a flash of white and the sound of a high speed impact. Fuck, ow, the ringing on that, okay.

But whatever was on top of me is pushed off, and something comes flying down. An IS, huh…? Can't see her face, though. Guess shit hit the fan here.

"Sorry I took so long. Don't worry, I'll keep you safe."

"Thanks…" I mutter while switching on my comms. "Operations, this is Noble Core. Need evac on my coordinates."

" _Copy that, Noble Core. Birds are coming."_

" _Evac zone is hot, I repeat, evac zone is hot—"_ Black Alice says as she moves into position to defend me _—_

* * *

 ** _Armored Hearts_**

* * *

"—enemy IS in the area." Bodewig Laura repeated as she leapt after her opponent. Her unit had been equipped with a specialty night-visor for this mission, which was also useful for masking her face. "Engaging."

Four of her wire-guided daggers flew out, whipping through the air and going after the BITs in the air. The opponent's drone units swiftly dodged, although it was just the set up. As the BITs dodged, her last two wire daggers flew out, having anticipated where they'd dodge, striking them head on and destroying them.

" _Black Alice, do not prioritize capture. Eliminate the target."_

"Understood, Command."

Her daggers flew out again, attempting to ensnare the enemy's BITs, however she had to move out of the way to avoid a laser blast. Bodewig quickly checked that the blast had not hit where Noble Core was, breathing a sigh of relief.

 _I have to take the hits. It's too risky if he's unshielded._

With that, she charged in, artfully dancing around the laser blasts that wouldn't be anywhere near where her charge should be as her opponent continually tried to create distance between them.

Neither of them said a word to each other, both were simply attempting to kill each other as fast as possible. It was a stark difference to what an arena battle was like. No banter, only ensuring your objective was fulfilled.

"Ngh—!" Her opponent hissed as Bodewig's strategy unfolded.

Bodewig had forced her enemy to use her BIT units as a shield by halting her movement with AIC as a lead-in to her wire daggers tangling her up. However, by sacrificing her drone units, she could keep that from happening.

Though, she only had so many units to sacrifice.

Four of her drones were down, eight left.

The two zoomed around the field, each trying to push for the advantage. Bodewig's opponent would try to put her in a bad spot by carefully placed BITs, but Bodewig's own wire daggers would force them to move, lest they be destroyed. It was just a matter of who got what they wanted first.

However, one thing her opponent also had to deal with was...

"Dammit…!"

She had gotten caught in the AIC field again, despite having weaved around and trying to obfuscate her movement with the BIT storm. Even if Bodewig took hits with the BITs around the air, it would be peanuts in terms of the damage output she could do if her opponent was completely frozen and ensnared.

One on one, Bodewig had the advantage. Limiting an opponent's ability to move was crippling. Now if she could only ensnare her with the wires, it would make finishing her off all the much easier. Once she was tangled up, AIC would just be icing on the cake.

This time her opponent had to sacrifice four BIT units to avoid being trapped in the wires. There was only one way out of this.

Bodewig's opponent commanded her BIT units to scatter, firing down on the ground below.

 _What's she up to…?_

As Bodewig thought about the path of where the drones were going, she realized what her aim was. They were going after Noble Core. And if they couldn't go after him directly, she'd set the entire forest ablaze and take him out either by burning him to death or by smoke inhalation.

"Tch…!"

But, if she provided cover to him as a direct shield or tried to scoop him out right now, she'd give away. His movement was already reduced and it was likely the enemy knew that, hence why she was trying to kill him via indirect means. Bodewig could try to bluff her opponent into the fact he had moved, but she wasn't sure if she should risk it.

"So, what's it going to be?" Her opponent taunted, still incapable of firing her weapon as she was immobilized.

 _Shut up._ Bodewig thought as her mind raced, trying to figure out the solution. _Your tricks would work on others, not me._

 _Prioritize the mission parameters. Keep Noble Core alive._

That was her mission. Noble Core had to stay alive. Every second she wasn't taking out those drones and holding this enemy in place was another second he was in danger. Likely she was going to retreat as soon as she was let go. Forcing her to protect Noble Core meant being out of range for AIC.

Bodewig started to fly back, ready to take any amount of shots, and eventually was out of range for AIC, but she kept her cannon ready to fire. However, as she made distance, so too did her opponent. She fully expected her opponent, a sniper, to open fire, but she merely retreated.

 _Dammit. She must not have had orders to take us out._ Bodewig thought as she moved closer to cover the evac chopper. "Command, this is Black Alice. She got away."

" _Copy that, Black Alice."_

"She forced my hand. Mission parameters were to ensure Noble Core's survival. What's his status, over?"

" _Understood, Black Alice. Hidden Hand'll be thankful for it. Birds are on the way, keep him alive in case any stragglers come after him."_

* * *

 _ **Armored Hearts**_

* * *

I rip the oxygen mask off as MT steps into the medical room I'm kept in.

"What the fuck, MT? An IS?"

"We didn't know she was there. But she's a hell of a sniper."

"Yeah, I figured that after I nearly got clipped by her laser rifle. I want answers, MT, and so does Meister."

Mei, sitting next to me, nods.

"Why the hell were we deployed? I'm sure we've got several sniper teams across Hidden Hand, any number of them could have taken this mission. Why us? Why four-oh-three-four?"

She gives us a bit of a glare, as if we're putting her in a hard spot.

"You'll be giving a report to command in an hour. That is all."

With that, she leaves the room. You gotta be fucking kidding me.

"Shit…" I mumble, looking at the cast on my leg. "That's not pretty."

"You should be glad it was just a minor fracture and not anything worse. Doctor says it should be about five weeks before you can walk again."

"Nothing I've already dealt with before." I mutter, remembering our time in the wastelands. "I got off lucky."

"Especially for an IS… Weiss, that unit…"

"Same one that we ran into before. BIT drone units. Blue laser rifle. Sniper capabilities. I guarantee it was her."

"Mhm."

"You catch anything on the footage?"

"Was taken off controls before I could do anything more. You didn't have a camera uplink and I don't have access to their operative's.."

"So we can't confirm visual."

"Nope."

"Dammit."

Either way, total injuries: bruises from the falls and being smacked around, minor fracture on my left leg, maybe a burned hair or two, they put me on an oxygen mask just in case, apparently, but I don't need it. I didn't inhale too much smoke, anyways.

I got off pretty scot-free for going up against an IS. I must've gotten lucky, either that or… they were trying to capture me.

We're brought over to the debriefing room, which looks more like a police interrogation room, afterwards to give our report. Mei and I don't hold back on the details. Especially about who the hell that IS pilot was.

"MT."

"Four oh three four?"

I slam my hands on the table, as of the moment I am unable to stand, and look her dead in the eyes.

"I want to know who the hell we're up against and why the you sent us?"

"In a bit. As for the second one—"

Mei immediately tackles me to the ground as we hear muffled gunshots. Next door over. Let's get—

"...understood." I hear MT say. "Four oh three four, back in your chair. Your secondary objective is fulfilled."

"Secondary objective?"

The mirror screen that separates the observation room separates into a clear glass pane. On the other side was Rebecca Ivorin, wielding a silenced pistol, two Black Rabbits operatives, one of three techies on the other side being held down, and one other Black Rabbit operative crumpled on the ground.

"Bait, four oh three four. Take them away for interrogation. I want information." Rebecca coldly commands as the squirming technie is cuffed and brought away, while the other operative is just dragged along the group after being bound.

"It also ties into why we had to call you. Partially as bait, partially because all other sniper teams are occupied or… have been terminated." MT says. "Not gonna lie, it's been rough for us lately."

"Clarissa, give us some privacy."

"Understood."

I see Rebecca step out of the room as the dark panels close back in. A few seconds later she steps into our room.

"We've lost funding, you know that, but we're losing units, too. Had to sniff out our rat who was feeding information to the enemy." She says, taking a seat across from us.

"Are we compromised?"

"They didn't have information to you. In fact, based on their communications that we intercepted that we used to spring the trap, they believe 4034 and Noble Core to be two entities."

"I see." I say with a nod along with Mei.

"Regardless, it's now pertinent that you know who we're up against. We have reason to believe that they've made inroads to IS Academy, but they won't try anything there."

Mei and I give a glance at each other.

"Alright, go for it." Mei says as she straightens up her back, paying rapt attention.

"Phantom Task is their name. They're an old group. Aims slightly unknown, but from previous patterns was about amassing a lot of political power. We constantly thwarted them in the days of the AC and NEXT. The reasons why are something you don't need to know, but let's just say that they were constantly interfering with our business and our contracts. Became a bit of a sour note. These days it's probably something more sinister, but as a defensive tactic we've been trying to uproot them. Can't exactly do business if they crush us.

"It seems they're trying to take IS cores. They're always non-lethal in their attacks, too, when taking them. But out here they have fairly free reign. We haven't found a solid link between them and these bases that crop up, which is why Black Alice infiltrated it first. Couldn't let them get a sniff on our movements just yet."

"I was unaware we were already allied with the Black Rabbits. Thought they were just a business partner in secret." Mei says, her eyes glancing around as if she was processing everything on a whiteboard, making mental notes to herself.

"Well, now you do. Even without the mole, though, it's been hard on our sniper teams. That blue sniper unit you've been running into, she's been encountered before. The rest of our operatives have nicknamed her the Blue Menace, since she's absolutely precise with her shots. Even without her help in locating you by the leak, I suspect she might have been able to track you regardless."

"So, they knew about this rescue op, then?" Mei asks, head perking up.

"The official orders were a recon mission, which tipped us off to where to find our leaker. As far as they've been told, this was a quiet recon mission."

"I see…"

"Anyways, about Phantom Task. This one's more pertinent to you, four oh three four, but… there's a HVI in Phantom Task. From what we can tell she's not the actual political leader, but the defacto leader. She's just a squad leader, but her charisma and vision make plenty of people loyal to her. Squall Meusel, someone we believe… and have long suspected, to be the pilot of the AC that identifies itself as Goddess Ascendant."

Mei's words come out in a stammer. "God… dess…"

"The only unit the previous 4034 was never able to defeat. The unit that started his injuries that led to a downward spiral, right?" I say, feeling the seriousness and bitterness in my mouth.

"Yes, that Goddess Ascendant. It's likely she's moved onto the IS, but…"

"Keep it in mind, right?"

"Yes. Don't worry, your cover hasn't been blown. In addition, they won't make a move unless there's a good opportunity. And I mean _very_ good. IS Academy is the turf of the Sarashiki family, after all, and they heavily oppose Phantom Task. We've clashed a few times, too. But to us, they're not hostiles."

"Got it…"

Rebecca nods, getting up from her seat. "MT will brief you on your next mission. If you'll excuse me."

We wait for her to leave before MT sighs, then looks at the two of us.

"Your next mission is simple. You'll be escorting Bodewig Laura to IS Academy. Seeing that we're partnering up with them like this, we might as well have our star operatives be in touch. Additionally, to preserve your cover, you will not be on crutches, but rather in a wheelchair, and both legs will be listed as broken..."

Star operative, huh? I suppose that could only be…

* * *

"Black Alice." I say, having already deduced who it will be. The short, petite, silver haired girl soldier with an eyepatch over her left eye responds at my call. She's dressed like the rest of the Black Rabbits: black skirt, jacket, tie, and white shirt.

"Noble Core?" She asks in that familiar, lightly lowered pitched than most girls' voice.

"Ooooh, an affair?" Mei says, earning an eye roll from me. "Didn't know you two knew each other."

"We've run a mission or two in the past, you weren't brought along likely because of injuries." I say, putting out a hand that Bodewig shakes. Good, firm, and just the right length of time to be holding on for. "Sorry I came back a wreck."

"My apologies for not being fast enough." she says, though I shake my head.

"Don't worry about it. I'm still alive. Anyways, ah, my name… Weiss Kazuma."

"Laura Bodewig."

"Mei Cayden~"

"Pleasure to meet you both. I suppose we'll have to forgo the usual callsign, won't we?"

I chuckle, shaking my head. "Yeah. Wouldn't be fun to explain why you call me Noble Core. Anyways, apparently we're your escort to IS Academy. I guess they figured we should know each other."

"I didn't know my escort would be in a wheelchair, though."

"Hard times. Maybe you should've spent a little more money. Then you could afford to have me, but with a wheelchair that has machine guns."

That gets a huff out of her as we continue along the hallway, looking around their compound. They run a pretty tight ship over here. I suppose it's only righteous that they were the top of Germany's special forces.

"By the way, I never said it earlier, but thanks for bailing me out." I say as we walk by a group of her soldiers playing basketball, six on six.

"You helped out in the base, so we'll call it even."

"Don't you still owe me for that time in the Balkans?"

I hear Bodewig snort, though there's a bit of a smile on her face.

"Wew, you two have a lot of history, huh?"

"Well, it comes with being the top operative of your respective group. You end up meeting a lot of people." Laura says as if it were just a simple fact. "We do have some time until we have to leave. Can I interest you in any German cooking?"

"It's not your own, right?"

Bodewig gives me a small glare for that.

"I will have you know that I have been training to improve in my areas of weakness."

"So you took cooking classes."

"I trained."

"Whatever you say."

Mei (after entertaining herself, or so she claims, with our antics) eventually goes off to play basketball with the other girls, leaving Bodewig and I alone. Probably just waiting to tease me over it again. We head over to a small viewing deck look over the base (having to take the elevator, too), waiting for time to pass.

"How is civilian life?" She asks while we see Mei successfully complete a lay-up. "Most of my time has been here, so I've been… unadjusted."

"It's… alright. Doesn't match the battlefield at all, though. But… it's nice."

I see her raise an eyebrow.

"Nice?"

"Just… it's got things the battlefield won't offer. Even if you can find companionship through countless battles, it's also just nice to… have friends that weren't forged in the heat of battle. Just people who think you seem like a nice guy and want to get to know you. It feels… also a bit comforting to stress out about other things. Whether or not you passed the test last Tuesday. Whether or not your favorite ramen dish is going to be on sale today. That sort of thing."

"I see. I might be looking a bit forward to it, then."

"Oh?"

"It's nothing. I've just been curious about it for a while, now. But I haven't really had a chance to really go through it, is all."

"Ahh. I think you might enjoy it."

"I'll hold you to that. How is… Orimura?"

"Which one?"

"The brother."

I see her face suddenly cool, eyes full of a razor hatred.

"You two have history?"

"No, but…" She closes her eyes. "I do not like him."

"That makes two of us. We aren't friends or anything. In fact, I think he greatly dislikes me. Probably has something to do with the way I kind of talk, everything that I am. He's a civilian, through and through."

"That's not a concern of mine, but I see."

So she dislikes Orimura, too? Heh.

"Can I ask why?"

"You can, but I won't necessarily answer you."

Figures.

"Just tell me if you two have history."

"Not directly."

So it likely involves his sister.

"But… he is a weakness, that is all."

"Black Alice."

Bodewig looks up at me, surprised I'm using her operative name. "Noble Core?"

"I'll just tell you this. I don't know if I've got it all figured out, but let me be clear. If it's anything what I think it is, then I'm no different. Cayden is my weakness. You've only known me as a cold operative, but…"

I trail off, letting her put the pieces together in her mind. If he's a weakness and it involves the sister, it means that in Bodewig's eyes, the younger Orimura is holding the older Orimura back.

"There's a difference. One of them at least fights by your side. You might mellow out when thinking about her, but she's no weakness of yours. You need her just as much as she needs you."

A fair argument. But it's the underlying principle that matters. The one person who would get me to show absolute weakness would be Mei. Someone who I look upon and have fond memories of. Someone who I can't help but feel a bit happy to know is still around.

Mei…

"Stop that look, if you're doing it on purpose."

I look towards Bodewig, who legitimately looks angry.

"It's just like her on that day…"

She gets up, eyes closed, and walks towards the exit.

"I hope your time in IS Academy hasn't completely thawed you out, Noble Core. If you'll excuse me."

"See you around, Black Alice."

So that's how it is, huh? Maybe I have mellowed out a little bit. But… I do feel all the stronger for it, when I think on it. An understanding of something I can return to. A home. Things I never had before in Hidden Hand. Sure, I had fellow pilots, I had Mei, I had a base to return to that I could call home…

...but now it feels like there's something more. Hidden Hand is still home, but there's definitely something… more fulfilling about the 'home' with the others around it. Geez, I _have_ been getting sappy.

"Ah, geez…" I mutter, leaning back in my chair as I see Mei pass the basketball to a teammate. "Whatever, I suppose we've got bigger fish to fry…"

* * *

As per the request, we deliver Bodewig to IS Academy. She seems a bit more annoyed at me during the flight, so we don't speak to each other much.

Yumemi is annoyed with us as well, but seeing as our report essentially summarizes it as "Germany asking a favor" for bringing their IS pilot over, she can't really do much other than tell us to catch up in the class and that Reinhardt has been taking notes.

"Oh my God, what happened?!"

"K-kazuma-san?!"

Nomida and Reinhardt immediately get up from their seats and run towards me as I leverage myself in on my wheelchair. Mei gives me a knowing smile and stops pushing me, putting me at the mercy of these two girls.

The cast on my right leg is actually a fake and is easily detachable in the event I actually have to let go of it. Additionally, they've built the wheelchair that the armrests can detach and form emergency crutches if I need it.

"No man left behind." I say without much comment after it. "Can't say much more than that."

"You… Nomida-san, please get his chair. Here, give me your bag!"

"I'm fine." I grumble, trying to wave her off. "No need to give me special treatment. If my primary arm was out, I'd let you, but it's just my legs."

"Just your legs, my ass!" Reinhardt says, looking rather miffed. A rare swear, too, that gets the class whispering. "Bag, now. I'm not letting you be stupidly stubborn about it. No, I don't care that it's just sitting in your lap, but if it falls out then it's going to spill out everywhere."

"Reinha—"

"Bag."

"Class Representative."

"No excuses. If not as a representative, as your friend. Now, _bag_."

I sigh and hold the bag out to her, even though it really was just sitting between my legs.

"Nomida-san, please take Kazuma-san's chair and move it to the back so he has a place to move in."

"Y-yes!"

"I can still handle myself, you know."

Reinhardt crosses her arms. "And you were going to move the chair out of the way how again?"

"I still have my arms. Could throw it."

She snorts, giving my shoulder a light, but stern shove. "Learn to take the help, Kazuma-san."

"I'm down two legs, not an invalid, _Class Representative._ "

"Yeah, well it's my concern that you don't lose your arms, too. Look, I can't help it though. It's not every day you come in without use of your legs. Just let us make things easier for you, okay?"

"Fine, but only so you'll stop bugging me about it. But I'm not helpless. At least let me do what I can."

There's a thick silence that hangs in the air before Reinhardt sighs and nods.

"Alright. I guess I was a little too forward. But don't drop this kind of thing on me out of nowhere! You couldn't even have sent a text to let me know?"

"Sorry."

"Hmph. Whatever, I'll abide by your request. Just let me know if you need anything, okay? Don't let your stubborn pride get in the way."

I roll my eyes with a snort, though when I make eye contact with Reinhardt, the two of us do share a small grin. Geez, you're one to talk about stubbornness.

All of us flinch when we hear the door to the classroom suddenly slam shut. The entire class is quiet for a while before Stoneson reopens the door, walking in.

"Wow, geez, what did Kaz—HOLY CRAP, KAZUMA-SAN?!"

"Yeah join the freakin' line. Lemme guess, silver hair, eyepatch?"

"Yeah, why? Also, legs—"

"Later." I sigh, shaking my head. Guess she saw me with Reinhardt. I wonder… if I would've become like her if I hadn't found someone like Mei. "But… I guess you could say that we met in the faculty office and she ah, didn't really take a liking to me. Must've done something to set her off."

"You didn't try to look u—oh wait she was wearing pants."

"Thanks for being the voice of reason." I mutter as Lisarene walks in through the door. We make eye contact, but she looks a bit sad and then doesn't say a word as she goes to her seat. We may have to talk later.

Either way, what a right mess. Apparently Orimura and Dunoa are fast friends based on what I heard getting up here, so getting through to Dunoa might be a little harder. So much work to do, and so little time to do it. Just another day, I suppose…

But yeah, so much for the cover. Guess things are going to get ever so tricky from here on out.

* * *

 **Wow I was on fire this chapter. Done in like, a day and a half. Very packed chapter too, I think. Even if it was kind of on the shorter end of things.**

 **Start off with the sniping mission. I'll admit that this was because I was playing a lot of Modern Warfare 2 as a nostalgia trip. A recurring enemy shows up and nearly cooks him, but he's okayish. I thought it was kind of interesting to write that scene. Kazuma has almost flawless handled every opponent that's come his way, but it's usually because he's in the AC. The Golem was a surprise attack as well, but he didn't do much damage and it was everyone else. But here, he's just a normal operative up against an IS. He's not fighting to win, he was just trying to survive, and I think it was an interesting thing to write because of it.**

 **Weiss gets his leg broken, Phantom Task gets revealed, alongside a reveal that Hidden Hand's previous top operative was never able to beat PT's best. That, alongside the reveal Hidden Hand is slowly being eliminated, puts the pressure on.**

 **Writing Bodewig was fun, making her a parallel to Weiss. Both of them early combatants, but Bodewig is the more lonesome one while Weiss has always had Mei at his back. There was a parallel I slipped into there regarding Chifuyu, as a sort of "not so different" thing.**

 **Last scene was just in the classroom, mainly to show that sort of "home" Weiss talked about that he has now. The people who care for him outside of just being an operative they need to heal up and the people who want him to return to a place of safety, that sort of thing. It has kind of mellowed him out, hence why Bodewig slammed the door because Weiss is similar to Chifuyu in that respect, so she got maaaaad.**

 **Anyways, let me know what you think about this chapter. Chapter 12 is already being put down on paper, so look out for it. Maybe we can hit 2 updates in a month?** _ **What sorcery is this?!**_


	12. Heart and Sword

**So like, you know how I was going to post this in June?**

 **Real life caught up to me lol**

 **Aaaaand I kind of detail some more stuff down below. Really it's just that I was struggling with next chapter and wanted to buy some time. Writing arguably one of the more "climatic" fight scenes is hard, as I wanted to get the choreography right rather than just try to come up with it on the spot.**

 **As usual, REVIEW REPLY TIME, GOOOOO!**

 **Kerlongsj Evert Orlejov:** Yeah, I had a lot of fun with Bodewig's arc so far, and I think writing her character has been enjoyable. I kind of tried to write her as "Weiss, but if he _didn't_ have Mei in his life". Also the sniper scene was a last second addition, so I'll see if I can't try to improve any further ones I write. Thanks for reading!

 **Grinja:** Your second paragraph actually inspired/caused me to write a scene for this chapter lol Truthfully I was going to delay the writings and "deeper" world building (stuff that Weiss isn't privy to), but I think I can branch out a little more if it helps explaining things. Part of me wanted to avoid having as many third person scenes like that as possible, sticking to first person as much as I could, so Weiss could discover things as the reader did, but if it helps smooth the story along, will definitely do it. Thanks for the catch!

 **epikphael:** Well, I'm glad you enjoyed the story. I try really hard to catch all the grammar and spelling mistakes, but sometimes they slip through the cracks. I'm also very happy to know you're enjoying how I write the characters. I originally had a very solid plan with what to do for this chapter, but as I wrote scenes I found it better just to not write to a given arc that I wanted, but just let my characters "talk" without much regard for what their intended arc was. I guess that helped it feel more natural, haha. Help me keep on that track, okay? Thanks for reading!

 **Alright, that should be everyone! Let's get this on with!**

* * *

 **Chapter 12:** Heart and Sword

* * *

"You can stop with that. I can still function." I mutter as Nomida pulls a chair away from the table in the cafe so I can roll in. "Seriously, I'm not an invalid."

"S-sorry… I just want to make things easier on you." Nomida says, looking away from me.

"I know that too, but I'm not completely helpless."

"Mhm…"

"Also, don't think this puts your training on hold. I'll still be able to coach you, but just not run with you. Sorry about that."

She shakes her head. "Don't be sorry for that, Kazuma-san. I already know you can do it, so you don't need to prove anything to me…"

"Alright, if you so insist."

I've already caught up in material due to Reinhardt's notes. She's quite diligent and has quite nice handwriting, making it easy to copy down. Considering her background though, I'd be surprised if she wasn't. Unfortunately, we can't exactly go on our morning runs, but Nomida and Reinhard apparently go on them together now. I should pressure Mei to go with them, seeing as they're a small squad of sorts. Couldn't hurt for them to know each other better.

"Um, Kazuma-san…?"

"What's up?"

Nomida glances away, as if afraid of what she's about to say. "The class double matches are coming up, so…"

"Yes?"

"I'd like to form a team with Reinhardt-san, but… I wanted to um…" She fidgets, twiddling her fingers. "I wanted to um, ask if you could be my Operator…"

"I can."

"T-then, p… please be my Operator!" She says, bowing deeply and suddenly, accidentally hitting her head on the table. "Ow…"

"Sheesh, you okay?" I ask, extending my hand.

"I-I'm fine!" She yells, stepping away and putting both her hands out as if to stop me from getting close to her.

"If you insist." I say, bringing my hand that I was about to use to inspect her head back to my side. "We'll talk about the contract and pay later."

"C-contract?!"

"Just teasing. It's a carry over from those older days."

"Geez…" Nomida pouts, looking rather unhappy as she sits down, biting her lips. "Cayden-san already gives me enough trouble. I don't want you doing the same, Kazuma-san."

"Alright, not a problem."

"U-um, I am a bit surprised though!" She says, giving off a small smile. "I didn't think Kazuma-san was a joker like that."

"I guess I picked it up from Cayden. Though, what does she tease you about?"

"About hu—n-nothing! Oh, our food's ready!"

It's definitely not.

Regardless, Nomida snatches up my meal ticket and runs for the counter, where she does her best not to look at me.

"Look at you."

I hear a sneer from behind me, finding Bodewig sitting at an elevated table behind our booth. She looks pissed, to say the least, as she wipes the last bit of crumbs from her mouth with her napkin.

"Do you even see yourself right now? This thin, idiotic smile on your face. Get rid of it. That's not like you."

I want to say that she was wrong, but I definitely could feel myself flipping from a small ghost of a smile to a frown as I rolled my chair around to face her.

"I won't lie to you Bodewig-san, I know part of me has mellowed out from being here for too long. But… I think I'll welcome this change. It's given me a new perspective on the reasons to fight."

She snorts, quietly getting up and leaving.

"Bodewig-san really doesn't like you, does she…?"

I turn back around and see Nomida with a tray, both of our orders on it.

"No, not really." I say with a shrug as Nomida puts the tray down and starts setting out of food. "It's really more that we have a few differences in perspective and how I do things."

"I thought you two would get along though, hehe. Both of you are soldiers, right..? Or at least, you exude that aura."

"Hah, well…" I can't help but smile a little bit. "Even soldiers have their differences. The way we think we should carry ourselves, how we view the life on the battlefield, and what the value of a life is, all of that can differ. And perhaps… our role in things."

"Your role…?"

"Whether to be just a cog in a machine or a thinking person. Whether you're just the strongman to be used when needed or someone fighting for a good cause, that sort of thing."

"I see." She says, giving me an understanding nod.

"Glad I could be of assistance. Now then, let's eat."

Nomida and I make a bit of small talk as we eat, with the former now more confident in her actions. It seems the constant punishment I've put her through and the lessons she's endured have paid off. She's even managed to get proficient with a handgun. She seems to favor a good old .45 Colt, but Reinhardt also got her to try out the Sauer P320.

"Ka… kazuma-san…"

"Hm?" I ask, pausing in my eating to find a Nomida looking away from me, a small blush on her cheeks.

She plays around with her food using her chopsticks. "If… if Reinhardt-san and I win a battle in the doubles… can I ask for a favor?"

"This isn't going to be one of those silly, undeniable favors that is actually just something incredibly reasonable but you're just too embarrassed to ask for it like in a shoujo manga, right?"

Her face immediately becomes one full of surprise. She stares at me, mouth slightly open, completely lost for words.

"U-Um…"

"Blame Cayden." I fire off, realizing that was a bit of a slipup.

"R-right. Um, I…"

I see her swallow.

"I want you to… I want you to push me to my limit again…!"

I decide to let the silence hang for a good second and a half, Nomida's face turning redder and redder as she waits for my reply, likely because of one, how loudly she said that, two, the fact it's now sinking in how that statement could be taken, and three, that I haven't said jack.

After about thirty seconds, or when Nomida's face can't turn any more red, I speak.

"Sure. Why if you win?"

"I… if I lose, then… I still need to improve."

"Even if you win, you have to get better."

She brings both her hands in front of her and clenches her fists. "Mhm, but… it means, I think I've understood what you meant enough. If I win."

"I see."

"Because… I couldn't step out on the battlefield at all. If I can step out there and claim victory… then it means I've at least started to learn what you're trying to teach me, right?"

"I don't know, you tell me."

Nomida just silently nods. I think back on that day, when she was throwing herself against the course. She believed only because someone told her. But today…

...she doesn't need my validation to know that she's learned at least a bit of what I've taught her. She knows it for herself. She believes in it for herself.

Even if she loses, because of this, I will challenge her once again. Because there is still a lesson to be taught. Still though, I suppose it's good to see her so motivated.

I can see the glimmer of victory in her eyes—it is not smugness, that she believes that there are no paths but to victory. No, it is that she is assuring herself of victory, already envisioning the paths she must take to achieve it. What must be given up, what must be sacrificed, and that which she does not want to let go of to accomplish it.

And the kinds of hell she is willing to wade through to achieve her victory.

"Well then, I suppose you should go talk to Reinhardt-san if you haven't already. I suspect she may be a bit of a prime target for partnering due to her victory over a representative a while back."

"Mhm…"

A sniper and blader, huh…? An interesting combination. I have to say… how appropriate, that those are the two roles that I once filled.

Regardless, I can't say I'm upset with how Nomida has come along. I wonder… if this is what the previous 4034 thought of me. It was only one time, completely in passing, but MT once commented about the previous 4034 having a certain smile, too. That man… definitely changed after Mei and I were taken in, apparently.

Perhaps I have, too.

* * *

 _ **Armored Hearts**_

* * *

Eric Johnston was no one special in particular. If one discarded the fact he was technically working in black operations, anyways. He was privy to some of the information regarding the United States' involvement with Hidden Hand, but was really nothing more than a simple bookkeeper and techie.

Over the past few months he had been growing increasingly skeptical of the Infinite Stratos system. The numbers frequently came across his desk and he couldn't help but wonder that for all the cost of the IS, they could have deployed Hidden Hand's star operative for likely half the cost and absolutely all of the deniability.

After all, Hidden Hand was by far the most strict and professional mercenary group they had ever worked with. Of course, they were fairly zealous in their legalities and contracts, but they held to the absolute letter.

He had heard a rumor recently that Hidden Hand was going to be served the **DISAVOWED** status, and he had also overheard that a division that he wasn't a part of was already working on weakening and eliminating them. To him, it made absolutely zero sense. Hidden Hand was an ace card, and even without the AC, their operatives were still not ones to mess around with.

 _Especially_ 4034\. He had never handled any missions their legendary 4034 had done, but he was familiar with the number. Everyone was. Never a failed mission. To the point some of them swore 4034 had to be a squad designation, there was no way that a single person could have done all of it.

Regardless, he had confided this fact to his superior, and that in the upcoming review of their resources, he was going to ask if there was any clout to the rumors and that if there was, that they should likely reconsider. Hidden Hand was an invaluable asset to have and it was fortunate that they snagged them before anyone else did during the dwindling of the AC.

"One Zero Four Two."

Today, his superior had called him into his office. Perhaps they would talk about the source of the rumors and what he planned to do about it. Or that his superior would tell him to ignore things and let them go, it wasn't their place to talk about. Or maybe he might agree, and that they would plan what to do from there.

But none of these things mattered, as 1042, Eric Johnston, was summarily executed in his superior's office. Because he was off the books, as if he never existed, no one would ever know that he was gone, paperwise. And in fact, as it were at this moment, the log files were being edited and replaced like clockwork, making it look like 1042 had gone snooping and had resisted capture.

His superior called the one above him. On the other end of the line, Nicholas Bakale, number 7206, picked up the phone and got the message. He too, was no one special, but unlike 1042, he was biding his time.

Nicholas could already tell that his entire sector, or at least a majority of it, was likely compromised by some external source. He knew it wasn't a foreign country—no, it was something perhaps more dangerous. But he had to keep his head low, pretend he didn't know what was going on. He too, understood that Hidden Hand and that the ACs in general were going to be a better shot in the long run, but…

...something else, some other group had silently, quietly, and professionally taken hold and pushed things in the direction of the IS. And they weren't going to give them any chance to go back to the AC.

As he realized that yet another one of his team members was likely claimed, he gave a short mental apology and prayer to him and to the two aides he had sacrificed to deliver his messages and test the chain. Above him was likely compromised. He didn't know who to trust at his level. He suspected that members in the government he served were in on this as well.

It was likely the same in other countries, too. They had made one cardinal mistake: buying into the IS even a little bit. It opened the door, then whatever this group was had quickly swept in, not alerting anyone at all, disguised as a cultural shift, and now…

...they would be powerless to fight back.

They were going to need a hell of a situation to turn things around. There had to be some situation out there, perhaps something he could engineer, that would show that an AC was the way to go.

Giving a silent "Godspeed" to France and Dunoa Corporations, which was currently shaking things up with an AC-IS hybrid or so said the rumors, taking principles from both, he could only hope that France's government had not been so yet consumed, and that they might have a chance.

* * *

Back at IS Academy, It had been a few days since Nomida had approached Kazuma about partnering, and soon enough the spirit of competition had filled the air, everyone ready to get into the arenas and fight.

"Excuse me, is Nomida-san here?"

Nomida picked her head up from the group she was huddled with, smiling as she saw who it was at the door of their classroom.

"Oh, Shinonono-san. Ah, excuse me—!"

"Alright, everyone break for now. Strategy meeting will resume after lunch." The lone male in their group announced, with one of the girls saluting sharply. Nomida and the other one tried, but they clearly weren't as good. The girl who did have a sharp salute came over and helped fixed her salute before patting her on the back as Nomida left.

"Sorry, ah, what is it, Shinonono-san?" Nomida asked, stepping outside of the classroom with Shinonono.

"Oh um, sorry to interrupt."

"It's fine. What did you need?"

"Well, I just wanted to ask if you were free after class on Saturday. With the class doubles coming up, er, well, I know you already have a partner, but kendo is still important, so…"

"Mhm, I should be free."

"Alright. I'll see you there on Saturday, then?"

"Yes. See you there, Shinonono-san."

"Oh, and I heard about your family dojo's triumph at another tournament. If it's not too much trouble, please pass my congr…"

Houki quickly noticed the signs. Glancing away, suddenly clamming up, and the confidence that was on her face suddenly disappeared.

"Never mind, it's nothing."

Nomida immediately beamed afterwards. "Right!"

"Sorry for interrupting your day. If you'll excuse me."

Nomida gave a small smile and waved as she went back into her classroom. "Have a nice day, Shinonono-san."

With that, Houki began to walk back to her classroom, lost in her thoughts about how similar the two were. Swordswomen of a dojo, touchy about their family… supporter of the man they had allied themselves with.

She was glad to have found someone who could understand a few things about her. Even if they hadn't talked a lot, perhaps it was their clashes that revealed everything to the other. Even the confusion Nomida had about her family, Houki could understand—and had understood since the first time they fought.

It was a very, very distinct unsureness. In practice, Nomida was unfailing sharp. But when pressured, she clearly fell back on something she was taught, but even then… she clearly hesitated.

Of course, this had been recently changing. In the practices they had recently, even when Nomida used what was likely her family's teachings, she seemed less clouded by doubt. A cold conviction had settled into her, and there was only one person to blame for that—

"Kazuma-san. I did not expect to see you at the dojo today." Shinonono said as she entered the dojo on that fated Saturday, where the wheelchaired operative was off to the side.

"Ah, Shinonono-san. Sorry, but I wanted to observe Nomida today."

"I see."

"After all, I'm in no condition to join you two." He said, clearly trying to make a joke, but Houki could see through the saccharine smile. It was all a cover, a fake, meant to disguise his true, killer nature.

"Of course."

She knew it was also rather cold of her to act this way, but she couldn't help it. He was the antithesis to the lifestyle she had, where kendo had guided her for so long now—but perhaps more importantly, or not, Kazuma clearly held some animosity towards Ichika. It might have been silly and petty, she knew this, but in the end she was on Ichika's side, standing by him.

But that didn't change the kind of fighter she understood Kazuma to be. It wasn't that Kazuma couldn't learn anything from the dojo—it was rather that he came off as dismissive. She could try to teach him honor, teach him respecting your opponent, the way of the blade, but all that Kazuma would see it as is a way to understand your target. And one more thing for him to exploit. He was someone who wouldn't be bothered with tradition—unless it was the way—the only way—to win.

Regardless, he paid rapt attention during her and Nomida's practice. He was quiet, so quiet in fact, that they forgot he was even there. Or perhaps, it was their discipline that directed them to forgo such distractions, focused more on their opponent in front of them.

 _She sure has learned fast._ Houki thought as they dueled. Nomida's strikes were far more on point today. However, Houki had years of experience more than Nomida, having trained when she was far younger. It was like Nomida had started recently, maybe five or so years after her. Strange, for a dojo family.

For the rest of the afternoon, they clashed, the sound of wooden shinai smacking each other filling the air.

Thanking each other, they bowed, and Nomida quickly left, seeming a bit jittery. Perhaps she had suddenly remembered that Kazuma was there. Of course, Houki had no right to judge. After all, she'd like be the same if it had been Ichika there. No matter how much she would deny that.

"Why did you choose to observe her?" Houki asked the sole male in the room after Nomida was long gone.

Kazuma crossed his arms and closed his eyes before nodding to himself.

"Perhaps because there was something to learn from her. Additionally, I thought to give her the same respect she gave me. She's come into my world, the one I know of, where the only rule is to stay alive. I thought maybe I could at least learn of where she comes from."

"I see… well, I hope you learned something today."

"More than plenty. Thank you for indulging me, Shinonono-san. And good luck with your upcoming battles."

And with that, he quietly wheeled himself away.

* * *

"Falling behind, huh?"

"W-wha—?!"

Stonesone smiled as the normally composed Class Representative folded like a house of cards, turning away with a light blush on her cheeks. Reinhardt could tell there wasn't a way out, no way to escape—Stoneson had caught her red-handed. And she definitely wasn't watching Kazuma and Nomida as they came out of the dojo, wondering what the former had said to make the latter smile like that. Of course, she wasn't following him, she just happened to catch sight of Kazuma as she was walking around.

"A-ah, Stoneson, you misunderstand." Reinhardt said, immediately beginning damage control. "I was just checking if he was having trouble with his chair. You know how Kazuma is."

"Hehehe, you're so cute when you're in denial."

Reinhardt continued continued to try to find the right words to say. "I'm… I'm not—I don't like Kazuma in that way, Stoneson."

"But you might soon, right?"

Reinhardt decided the best course of action was to flee, but Stoneson grabbed one of her arms and started dragging her a different way.

"I bet riiight now you're wondering why your heart is going all fuzzy when you see Kazuma with Nomida."

"That's not—"

Stoneon leaned in, smiling brightly. "Well, am I right?"

"S-shut up, Stoneson." Reinhardt said in a grumbling tone.

The American girl gave a motherly smile. "Ooooh, you really have been hanging out with him. But his delivery is way better."

She earned a nasty glare from Reinhardt, though its effects were diminished by the flush on her cheeks.

"Mmmkay."

"Huh?"

Stoneson let go of her arm and giggled, making an exaggerated motion of putting her finger to her mouth.

'Well, if you really insist, I won't bug you about it. You won't have to worry about me at all, or me trying to offer you advice or anything like that."

With that, Stoneson began to skip away, almost in step with a melody.

"W… wait."

"Hmmmm~?"

"Um, well…"

* * *

 _ **Armored Hearts**_

* * *

"Good God, you're dense." Lisarene mumbles as I pass her a wrench.

"I've been told that once or twice." I say idly, leaning back in my chair.

It's currently lunch time, but despite that, Lisarene and I are in one of the garage bays, fixing up an old engine. For someone who asked me this morning to help out, she sure is being annoying about it _now_.

"If you really don't want me helping out, just say the words. I won't be offended."

"No, I do, it's just… never mind. Pass me the wrench from the second row, third from the left."

I take the wrench as per her instructions and dangle it down as she slides back on her maintenance cart from underneath the engine. We swap wrenches, and I put the one she handed me back in the first row, sixth from the right.

"So, remind me again why we have car engines here?"

"Automobiles club."

"Ah. Don't you have clubmates for this?"

I hear Lisarene's work stop as I glance around. There's definitely other students here as well, though their lunches look more like fast food taken from the cafe and are hastily shoved to the side, so…

"I guess… I'm just not a good fit for them."

"Right…" I say, choosing not to press further on the hesitation in her voice.

"But hey, I have to keep my skills sharp, right? I'm a terrible pi… lo—ah, there we go, _pilot_ , sorry, this bolt here was being stubborn. I'm also an 'eh' operator, but I do—" I hear another grunt from where she's working. "—know my way around IS and AC parts. Fortunately you guys tend to use simple weapons. It's just normal maintenance, but let's say I was asked to do something like Impact Cannons. I'm _fairly_ sure I could learn how to maintain them?"

"That why you go to IS Academy?"

"Yeah. Killer buck to be made doing repairs. Hell, you can even touch R and D as well. Give me a few years and I can retire. Shot at, not even once, kind of like Dunoa's father."

"Speaking of Dunoa, I haven't had a good chance to introduce myself to him yet."

"Too busy with Orimura, right?"

"I'd prefer for it to be one on one, though seeing as they're roommates, hard to get a good shot."

"Well, at least you're not a homewrecker."

I hear her chuckle at her own joke as she continues her work. Granted, I don't trust Lisarene for a second. That protected status could mean she's on our side though, but best to keep my guard up. There's something about her I can't see.

"E… excuse me!"

Lisarene's work stops before she rolls herself out as a strangely familiar voice calls out.

"Is… Kazuma-san here…?"

We both look across the way, finding an uncharacteristically cowed Reinhardt glancing around the room.

"Lisarene?" I ask, looking down at her.

"Eh, go after her. I'll be fine. Almost done, anyways."

I wheel myself over, looking at Reinhardt.

"Hey, sorry. Lisarene asked for a favor. Can I do something for you?"

"Erm, um…" She stammers out, crossing her arms, her hands grabbing her elbows rather tightly.

I raise an eyebrow, causing her to grumble, muttering something to herself rather angrily.

"Something wrong?"

"Ah, well…" She glances away, tapping her foot as if trying to remember something.

I take a closer look, trying to analyze her for signs other than just skittishness.

"Hm, I could swear this morning you didn't have lip gl—"

I'm cut short by Reinhardt yelping out as she quickly runs behind me and starts pushing me forward.

"What's up with you?" I ask as we start going through the hallways.

"Um… aaah…"

"Geez, something's got you really worked up." I say, sighing while shaking my head. Sheesh.

"Blame Stoneson…" She says with a sigh, sounding rather defeated.

"Where are we going?"

"Um, well, would you like to get lunch together…?"

"I've already eaten lunch."

"I… I see."

"Okay, seriously—" I crane my neck and try to get a better glimpse of her, because Reinhardt is just acting very silly now. "Ah, I see why you're nervous. Is it your first time wearing make—"

"Y-yes! B… blame Stoneson."

I can't help but raise an eyebrow. "What the hell has Stoneson done to you?"

"That's, ah…" She starts, but then pauses and lets out a low groan likely meant only for herself.

"If it's private, I won't pry."

"Ah, well, ah… I um, just wanted to talk more with you. Er, what I mean to say is… we haven't really had any one on one time, is all. I was just kind of missing those older days."

"I see. The makeup and lip gloss?"

She lets out another small groan before speaking. "Can… can we not talk about that for now?"

"Later, then."

Stoneson sighs as she then wheels me outside, towards the cafe, as we can cut through the pathways rather than taking the halls.

"Nomida-san's been becoming a better warrior, isn't she?" Reinhardt eventually asks.

"She still hasn't reach your level. Provided that you haven't been slacking."

"Of course not." she snaps back.

"Good. But yes, that's why I've been watching over her a little more closely. I don't need to monitor your progress as much."

"Ah…"

"Well, when she reaches your level, then you two will be taught together. We'll use the upcoming tournament as a good benchmark."

"Alright…"

I can't help but detect relief in her voice.

"Something on your mind?"

"H-huh? Oh, it's um, nothing. Blame Stoneson." I hear her say quickly with an uncharacteristic stammer. Seriously...

"Honestly, I need to go pester her if she's got you this worked up."

"Please don't!"

Reinhardt then lets out a noise that's half-groan, half whine at her sudden remark.

"It's just… girl stuff."

"All, so I'll tell Cayden to extract it out of her." I wait for Reinhardt's reaction, which is a small squeak. "Just kidding."

"Please don't joke about that. It's something embarrassing, so…"

"I know, I know. It was just amusing to see how'd you react."

"Geez," she says, giving my head a light smack. "That's so unlike you, Kazuma-san."

"Guess Cayden might be rubbing off on me."

Our conversation is cut off by Reinhardt grunting alongside her suddenly pushing me forward.

"Hey, watch where you're go—"

Her words die in her throat. I turn my head to see that of course, it's Bodewig, who was walking probably from the side, but now has her back towards us, her head turned just enough so we can see the eyepatch over her left eye.

"I'm sorry. I didn't see where I was going. Please excuse me." She says, holding her left hand up as if to apologize.

Friggin' petty, that's what you are.

We wait for her to leave, Reinhardt eventually speaking up.

"That girl really doesn't like you, huh?"

"Sorry for the inconvenience." I say, slightly slumping back in my chair. Seriously...

"It's fine. Are you okay?"

"Yeah. By the way, you might want to step on it. You've got about ten minutes before the lunch block ends."

"...Oh. Oh, sh—"

* * *

 _ **Armored Hearts**_

* * *

Bodewig could feel her heels striking the ground, taking a strange satisfaction in it. This week was getting better and _better_. Not only did her Instructor absolutely refuse to go back to Germany, wasting her efforts with these _children_ , but the only other person who she thought she could confide in had gone soft.

Those damned girls.

They'd wormed their way into Noble Core's being and ruined him. He no longer exemplified all that they once stood for, being at the peak of their craft. Not even his partner had been safe from scrutiny as well, and she blamed her for starting this mess. Cayden had been a barely passable exception in her eyes, as she was Noble Core's support. She didn't have to be held to the same standard as he was.

But it didn't change how sick it made her to see the smile on his face.

She absolutely, _absolutely_ refused to accept it. The boy in the wheelchair, teasing a girl that obviously was confused about her feelings for him…

...that couldn't possibly be the same entity she knew to be Noble Core. The same person who had taken out an entire base of comparable size he rescued her from.

She could still recall that night, his voice, his actions, how distant it was. Sent on a mission, he simply set out to accomplish it without any qualms.

An entire base had been sent after Bodewig and her convoy. His objective had been to stop them from fully intercepting Bodewig's movements.

" _Enemy down."_

" _Squad on your nine neutralized."_

" _Trucks coming from the left fork four hundred meters ahead neutralized."_

His cold callouts, coming right after a shot fired. In fact, her own personal squad both teemed with excitement, but also terror, when they were called in to meet him.

He couldn't have been that much older than her at the time, Laura had thought, as she saw the operative that had taken on the name Noble Core in person. She hadn't known about his struggles yet, what he went through in order to even be standing in front of her. She hadn't known that he was _Dark Breeze_ or how he was the then-current 4034's protege, or anything like that, but she knew on a baseline level…

...they weren't all that different.

"Noble Core." He had said, introducing himself with that distant voice. "Glad to see the Black Rabbits made it here safely."

They had competitions, as well, on the range. Bodewig could only beat him on occasion in sniping. Even though Bodewig had been trained far more than he had, there was a… cold ferocity to Noble Core. If she had only known it was because he treated that competition like his life was on the line like it had used to be.

But in the end, Bodewig's guilt at how she treated the man she thought was Noble Core dissipated. Perhaps that blue sniper… had only been able to find him because he had gone soft. He was no longer the pinnacle of his craft.

 _Unforgivable._ She thought. _Those girls are unforgivable._

Just like Orimura Ichika to his sister, she would never forgive them for weakening Noble Core.

And they sure as hell would know it.

* * *

 **You all know what's coming up next. Which is why I was delaying posting this chapter lol I didn't want to post one in like 2 weeks and then drop off for like two months, because ugh writing this battle scene has been hard. I wanted to try to hit everyone, like, turn this from just an upcoming battle to a more clash of ideals, meaning I've had to dig into everyone's heads. It took me a while just to get even the general choreography and flow of the battle down, so now I just have to uh, write it.**

 **Anyways, I hope this chapter was all right. A little more focus on Nomida, some on Reinhardt, with some of the relationship things kicking in. I think it was more fun to make Reinhardt confused about her feelings, so even though she strongly insists to Stoneson she doesn't like him in that way, she's not sure of it herself, so she tries what Stoneson suggests (hence her constantly telling Kazuma to "Blame Stoneson").**

 **Overall I feel that Nomida's become elevated to like, deuterologist, where she's the "secondary protagonist" if you will. Kazuma's development and arcs are still at the forefront of the story, but Nomida has also made leaps and bounds in terms of her mentality. That was a fault of my own, starting Reinhardt off in a position where she's already paralleling Kazuma. I might be able to course correct on that.**

 **There was a small snippet in there that focused on why the IS had such a stranglehold on society. I know some of you brought it up as a concern, so I added a scene that would further hint at and explore why the IS seemed to dig in and never let go. Essentially, some force, not saying who exactly it is but like come on, we all know, infiltrated in, and once the IS got a foot in the door, they swept in like crazy and didn't give a chance for the AC to be a fallback. Might've been a little hasty with it, but I felt it was fine.**

 **Either way, let me know what you guys think! Seeya next chapter!**


	13. Symbolic Gesture

**Sorry for taking so long to get this out, but between internship (even with writing on the train), moving back to school, and senior level courses, it was waaaaay too much. Fortunately I managed to get back on track!**

 **Job searching is limiting my time as well, but I'll still be trying to push some updates. I'd like to at least hit Silvero Gospel by the end of the year. I find this story much easier to write than Dysfunction Junction, but that's because I feel like DJ has a less solid tone to the story and this one I have something much more concrete.**

 **Although, good fucking God, my free time has returned now that I'm done writing for the goddamn Purist Mod for DDLC. Good God, man, that thing sucked away all my free time since I had to program it too. Either way, I AM FREEE!**

 **But first, review reply time, GOOOO!**

 **Siphon 117:** Yeah, that's a bit of a complaint that I'm getting and I'm working on fixing it, not this chapter, but the next ones. I think a dedicated chapter is going to be needed to fully explain or hint at the current state of the world, but I didn't want to break the momentum of the previous chapters. Thanks for reading!

 **Kerlongsj Evert Orlejov:** Hehehe, yeah. I think this chapter is the culmination of what's been building so far, and I hope you enjoy it. I'm glad to know that I was able to capture a bit of that split between Bodewig and Weiss, too. Thank you for stopping by!

 **Ky0:** Haha, I wonder that too. Thanks for dropping on by!

 **Grinja:** Hm, I think I made it clear, but I guess I should've done a bit more. I was going for Bodewig thinking Weiss, even while he smiled a little bit in Germany, was still the same person she thought he was, but then seeing him at IS Academy shattered her world view, causing her to get tilted. At Germany, he was happy with Cayden, which to her was acceptable, but something like smiling at the 'normal' life when they're not supposed to be 'normal' was implied to be what set her off. I hope that cleared it up, I'll try to nail things like that down better.

 **Guest:** Heh, I didn't think of that, but I think that would be amusing. Except not the actual people. I feel like Chifuyu and Weiss would be a terrible match for each other.

 **Either way, this chapter took me a while to get the choreography down (you'll see what I mean). I hope you enjoy it!**

* * *

 **Chapter 13:** Symbolic Gesture

* * *

"Sorry about that." I mumble to Reinhardt, who is currently in a detention cell with me. I didn't know the school had these, but I guess you learn something new every day.

"I made the choice to follow your orders. Besides, what she did to Nomida there…" Reinhardt says, actual anger in hre voice.

The situation is… fairly simple. Long story short, Nomida was out there practicing with Cayden. Alcott and Huang Lingyin from the other classes joined in, and they went for a two on two, Alcott and Nomida together, Huang and Cayden. Reinhardt was mostly just watching from the Operator booth with me, observing Nomida's patterns. It was fortunate she was paired with another sniper, as Reinhardt saw what she was expecting from Alcott.

Things turned sour when Bodewig showed up, apparently with hell to pay, and decided to thrash everyone. It got to the point that even when shields were running low or almost completely out, she still kept smacking them around.

Reinhardt immediately got into an IS and gave sniper fire, though Bodewig's unit was able to stop the bullets. Meanwhile, Orimura Ichika, who had been in the stands and saw this, used his weapon to break through the arena shields and put an end to the fight. Bodewig kicked his ass, but he was holding up fine.

This was interrupted by Orimura Chifuyu entering the field, completely unarmed except for a massive sword. Bodewig refused to stand down. So, I gave an implied threat. By of course, telling Orimura Chifuyu that we could not guarantee her safety if Bodewig, who was still grappling onto Nomida and Orimura, did not stand down and forced the fight to continue, as she was unshielded in the middle of a live fire arena.

Bodewig called my bluff.

I gave Reinhardt the order to fire a warning shot.

The girl actually did it without a second of hesitation, saying immediately after, "Bodewig Laura, let go of Nomida-san or I will force you to, so help me God."

I didn't actually tell her to say that, but I think Reinhardt was just pissed off enough to make the direct threat. Likely a combination of Nomida being in danger, Bodewig's not-so-friendly treatment of not just me but the rest of the student body as she has some sort of superiority complex towards everyone else, the fact this was all personally driven, and that Bodewig did not understand what the term 'surrender' meant here. Either way, she was mad.

After another warning shot that was sent right past Bodewig's head, as I had determined that she was using Near-Manual Control, so the shot wouldn't rebound off a radial shield, Orimura Chifuyu demanded we cease fire. I told her that we were simply trying to ensure that our friend and fellow student was safe, and that clearly Bodewig Laura did not respect authority of the teachers, so we would be forced to take matters into our own hands.

Reinhardt chimed in with a snarky, yet cold reply of "Last I checked, Orimura-sensei, 'just following orders' didn't hold up in court."

Orimura Chifuyu barked some more orders and after about ten more minutes, Bodewig complied.

Of course, by the time that happened, several other teachers, likely alerted in secret by Orimura Chifuyu, came by and detained Reinhardt and I. Bodewig was likely in another cell or some other section, also being detained.

"Still, I was the one who gave you the original order to take a warning shot. The conditions were simple enough, shotwise, but if anything had gone wrong it's likely Orimura Chifuyu could have been harmed."

"I suppose." Reinhardt says, leaning back against the wall as she slumps down. "Geez, can't wait to get chewed out by my dad for this."

"Good luck with that."

"Sheesh, no mercy, huh? I'm going to make you talk to him, just to explain the situation." She says back, lightening the mood. "I hope I didn't cause any trouble for Nomida over this."

"I think she'll be fine. You can probably afford to worry about yourself a little more."

"Thanks…"

Both of us look up, hearing the door slide open. Yumemi-sensei steps inside, holding her tablet as always. She gives us both a look of disappointment before sighing.

"The school has decided, very fortunately for you two, not to expel you. Actually it was never really on the table. A cursory investigation revealed that it was obviously aggravated and that you two weren't the aggressors." She says, shaking her head. "However, Reinhardt Ursula, the school has decided to put a temporary ban on your usage of the IS. You will not be permitted to use the IS unless supervised by a teacher for two weeks."

"Understood, sensei."

"As for you, Kazuma Weiss, the school had decided that a similar punishment will hold, but for Operator booths instead. The permissions will be locked for two weeks, effective immediately. When you have your class double matches, I will be there to authenticate your supervision. Additionally, for both of you, and likewise something is being put on Bodewig, but think of it as a restraining order. You may not enter her classroom, she will not enter yours, and outside of strictly necessary events, you are not to engage with her in any amount."

"Got it."

"Do you have anything to add other than what was indicated on your report?"

"No, ma'am." We both say together, before correcting ourselves to "sensei".

"Then you're dismissed. Try not to get into any more trouble."

"Yes, sensei." We chime together, exiting the room with Yumemi's escort.

Reinhardt ends up pushing me out of the detention area, which apparently is underground. I mentally map out the detention area in my head and glance around, looking for any exits. Everything here is kept uniform, so there's no distinguishing markers.

Judging by the length of the ride, it's definitely not just one or two floors in distance down. It does deposit us on the first floor, near the teacher's office. Outside of the teacher's office, two others girls are waiting, and we've been down there long enough that the sun is slowly starting to set.

"Oh thank God—!"

I hear Reinhardt grunt as runs around the wheelchair and almost tackles our resident sniper, apparently exerting enough force to make Reinhardt uncomfortable with how tightly she's being squeezed.

As for the other…

"Heard you got in trouble, Kazuma."

"Oh, sock it, Cayden." I mumble, with my Operator ruffling my hair as she laughs.

"It's okay, I heard what happened. I would've done the same thing."

"Thanks, but it doesn't change the fact I got into hot water."

Mei gives me a soft smile in return, with a silent conversation playing out between us. That's right… I wouldn't… the me from a long time ago, I would've have been like this, huh?

Have I really gone soft…?

 _No_ , Mei's smile tells me. _You've just found something else to fight for._

I suppose that's true.

I crane my head back and see Reinhardt finally prying herself free from Nomida's grip, smiling as she comforts the blader, muttering "Geez, I should be more concerned for you…"

That's right. Something else… a home to come back to. Something I'd be willing to go all out in order to protect. I guess that's why I acted like that. Someone threatened Nomida, and so I was willing to utilize everything. If Reinhardt hadn't taken the shot, I think I would've taken it myself. Maybe. I'm not quite sure. It was easy to do something like this, but I don't know how much I'd fight tooth and nail for them. They're not quite on the level of Mei, where if anything tried to harm her, take away the one light I've had at my side since forever, I'd use everything at my disposal to utterly destroy.

But… I'd be willing to at least fire a round or two for these girls, that much is certain.

"So, what's the damage?"

"I'm not allowed to be in the Operator booths, or at least I can't log into them for two weeks, unless supervised. Same for Reinhardt, but she for piloting."

"I guess that means no last second practicing, especially with the matches in just under a week." Reinhardt says with a small sigh. "I'll make do with what I have, though."

"That's all I, well _we_ can really ask for. I'll let Stoneson know about this later, I guess." I say as Mei takes Reinhardt's place of pushing me. "Dinner for now, I guess?"

"Sounds good to me." Mei says back. "You guys coming along?"

"I think um, well, I'll wait around here for a bit with Nomida-san. We'll catch up tomorrow. Have a good night, you two."

"Thanks." Mei and I say together as she begins to wheel me off. I notice the other girls head off to the side, maybe back to the dorms.

"Kazuma-kun."

Mei stops me and turns me around, finding Yumemi standing by the door to the teacher's office. She waves someone over who steps out, revealing one Charles Dunoa.

"Ah…" He starts, but then closes his mouth, not saying anything as he comes over.

I put a hand out. "Kazuma Weiss. A pleasure to meet you. My apologies for taking so long, but I've been called away so many times, recently."

He takes my hand and shakes it. Good, firm, if not… feminine grasp. Might just be a French thing.

"Well met, Kazuma Weiss. I am Dunoa Charles, but I suspect you knew that. I'm also well aware of what a man like you is called to do sometimes, so please do not apologize for not talking with me." He says, though I note that his words don't have any malice in them, despite the fact that they could be taken as such. "The feared and infamous Kazuma Weiss is no one to be trifled with, after all."

I let go of his hand, returning it to my lap. "Ah, behind me is the pilot I supported, Cayden Mei."

He nods. "I see, I see."

"To what do I owe the pleasure of you coming to see me?"

"I wanted to give my gratitude in person. Ichika-san is a dear friend of mine, so supporting him even though I am aware you two do not exactly get along… I must say I am thankful for it."

"Ah, well… don't think too much of it, anyways. I had my own reasons to order Reinhardt the way I did."

"Regardless, you did what you did, so please accept my thanks."

"Got it, got it, don't bow to me or anything like that. You're competing in the tournament, right?"

He gives a bright, toothy smile. "Mhm. I trust you'll be working behind the scenes, then?"

"Of course. Good luck out there."

"Thank you. If you'll excuse me."

With that, he retreats back into the office, likely waiting for Ichika. Mei turns us around and gets walking down, towards the cafeteria.

"Hmhm~"

"What is it?"

"I'm just… a little amused, is all. And happy for you, too. Just… knowing that you've found something. I know you've always been there because of me, Weiss, so…"

"I'd still come save you first." I immediately say. I know what Mei's going to imply. But she's wrong. No matter what, Mei always comes first. If I had to throw away Nomida and Reinhardt for Mei... I could still do it.

"I know. But I'm just glad…"

I can feel her bring the wheelchair to a stop, pull me in, and lean in close to my ear so no one can hear.

"...that you've found someone else you'd like to live as well."

* * *

Those words stick with me as I roll into the classroom a few days later. It's the last day of class before the tournament begins.

As soon as I enter, I see Reinhardt, Nomida, and Stoneson stand up and salute. It seems Reinhardt has been helping them fix it, as they're all not too bad with them.

"You guys are all stupid…" I mutter as I roll further into the room, but they all keep attention and don't break. Some of the other girls look on with curious expressions, a few completely baffled, and one or two with disgust. "Fine, as you were."

Reinhardt and the others simply smile as they sit back down while I finish moving up to them.

"What's the plan, _el capitan_?" Stoneson asks as I come to a stop.

I look up at all of them. They're serious about all of this. They're ready, or at least far more ready than when I first met them. I would hesitate to send them out in real combat, but for something like this… they can at least bear it.

"The plan is simple. Nomida acts as our vanguard. Reinhardt plays punishment. Stoneson, you're backup and assistant. Reinhardt will also play squad leader, meaning that when it's time for any split action, I'll be directing and advising Reinhardt. Stoneson, same goes for you and Nomida. As for specific tactics, we'll worry about that when we actually get to the battle. We'll be on the fly until we know who we're up against."

"Got it, sir!" Nomida says, suddenly going red in the face when she realizes no one else said anything.

"Don't 'sir' me, Nomida. Reinhardt, your team exercises have been decent so far, from what I heard before our little incident. You two might be a week out of practice, but you're still good to go. Just do what you normally do and don't pull any stunts and you should be fine. Nomida, remember—we are your Operators. You don't have to follow all of our instructions, but you need to let us know what you need. Help us help you."

"G… got it."

"Reinhardt, I'm trusting you to help Nomida out if Nomida stumbles. But no coddling, either. She can't improve if you don't let her."

"Understood, sir." Reinhardt fires back, with an air of sureness.

"As for all three of you—treat these like they were real battles. That means when your shields go out—"

I pause, making the motion of readying a pistol and then point it right between Nomida's eyes.

"—I die." She finishes.

That's right. But I want you to live.

"And what will you not do?" I ask, moreso Nomida than the others.

"Not die." All three of them reply.

"Good. Just don't pull anything stupid out there, and we'll be sure to at least knock someone around. Let's get ready for class."

* * *

 _ **Armored Hearts**_

* * *

It was early morning on the day of their battle. Nomida had woken up earlier than usual and went to the dojo to clear her head, pushing all doubts and worries from her mind.

Her exercises weren't anything major, just some ordinary movements and strikes.

"Ich, ni. Ich, ni." She counted, dropping the 'i' sound of the word for one as she was so used to doing, in time with her movements.

She slid forward, striking down right through the center of her imaginary opponent's head.

"Ich."

She slid back, bare feet gliding across the wooden floor as her sword was raised back into position to strike once again.

"Ni."

Know thy enemy. Know thyself. One thousand battles. One thousand victories.

"Ich."

She wasn't afraid anymore. Or at the least, she was able to make the voices of doubt that clawed at her shut up for some time. There was a dream she wanted to see come to fruition, now.

"Ni."

Perhaps it hadn't originally been hers to begin with. To fly, when her sister could not. A dream that was passed onto her.

"Ich."

What would she give up? What would she throw away? What did she not wish to part with? All of these questions were slowly being answered in her mind.

"Ni."

Everything that would be sacrificed. Every person she would have to strike down. She asked anyone who was listening to forgive her. For the sin she was about to commit.

"Ich."

Yet, she understood that there would be no one to forgive her. No, rather—the only person worth getting forgiveness from was herself. And so, she told herself that it would be fine. That it was okay to do what she was doing.

"Ni."

For the sake of a dream that was not originally hers...

"Ich."

...but now was. One that she understood was something she wanted for herself. Because even if the dream was the exact same, the fact simply was that Nomida desired it for herself.

"Ni."

And that made all the difference.

Unbeknownst to her, on the very same early morning of their battle, Reinhardt had woken up earlier than normal and went out running to clear her head.

Nothing too intensive, just her normal jogging pace where she'd occasionally push herself.

"Ha, ha, ha—"

She panted as she curved her path around the fountain, keeping up with her best time. As usual, she hit this point at around the nine forty seven mark, if maybe one or two seconds earlier.

Though, she was very used to trying this hard, after all. Constant self improvement. Never stopping. Always trying to get better. Even when it came to fighting.

Her breathing rate was increasing as she double timed it. She knew what she wanted, and where her resolve once wavered, she now stood firm. Whatever hesitation of getting onto the battlefield in her heart had long been cleared away—replaced with a crystal clear truth.

And she had a certain "Operator" to thank for it.

Stoneson, on the other hand, was not up early. Rather, she had passed out after doing some studying. She wanted to be prepared, so she began reading up on various weapons and studying the abilities that had been used. She had been reviewing old battles at the Academy, comparing profiles, and trying to gain a predictive age.

Having taken the lessons from Kazuma into account alongside removing herself of all the times she was a first responder, she was trying her best.

Treat this like it was a to the death battle. She knew knew she did not want to see her friends die. So she'd do everything she could to prevent that.

Even if she couldn't fight…

...she could do this much.

* * *

 _ **Armored Hearts**_

* * *

"Geez, now this is just unfair."

"Life's unfair, deal with it." I say as Stoneson steps into the Operator room, where Yumemi has already authenticated me to use them.

"I brought donuts~"

"Thanks. You got Bavarian cream?"

I look a bit to the right as my shoulder is tapped and find Stoneson holding out a doughnut along with a large coffee.

"Oh. Thanks."

Stoneson logs into the terminal as I munch on the treat, feeling the sweetness on my tongue before I douse it with the flavor of coffee. I use the napkin she provided me to wipe my mouth before leaning back in my seat.

"Hey, Nomida, Reinhardt, I have doughnuts for you two later~"

" _Ah, thanks, Stoneson."_

" _R-right! Thanks, Stoneson."_

"No honorifics?"

"We're close enough~ Still though, it's really unfair, you know?"

I sigh. Really, the school should've known better. Pitting these girls against Bodewig? Seriously, I understand these things must be randomized, but it's not too much just to like, shift one match around? You have _got_ to be kidding me.

Shaking my head, I turn on my microphone and start speaking in character for the mission.

"Pilots, report."

" _I copy."_

" _I-I'm here."_

"Long story short, you've got it rough out there, pilots. Command is asking you to take on two IS units. One is a standard Uchigane Kai. The other is a personal unit from Germany. Capabilities include AIC, as was demonstrated on one of our pilots before. Can completely stop you in your tracks and also can be used to stop projectiles."

"It also has wire daggers that can trap you, so look out." Stoneson adds once she's completely set up. "Also a biiiiig cannon, it'll hurt if you get hit. Takes a while to charge up, though."

"Got it. You two copy?"

I get affirmative replies.

"Battleground is an open one. Not a lot of cover. Weather is seventy nine degrees, slightly humid. No wind. Additionally, I'll now go over our designations."

"Reinhardt, your designation is Booker One. Nomida, Booker Two. I will be Overlord One, Stoneson is Overlord Two. Booker One and Two, copy?"

" _I copy, Overlord One."_

" _Go… good copy, Overlord One."_

"Turning it over to Overlord Two."

"Alriiiight! Booker One, Booker Two, this is Overlord Two, how copy, over?"

" _I copy, Overlord Two."_ Reinhardt repeats.

" _I hear you, Overlord Two."_

"Alright, sound check is clear!" Stoneson says with a small cheer. I see that the girls definitely look a bit more relaxed now after the less formal check.

"Let's go over the strategy, Booker Team. Two, you're taking point, keep melee off of our sniper. It's going to be rough what with the whole frozen in place thing, but you should be able to handle it. Use your side arm to at least soften up their blader. One, you're punishment. While Two holds their attention, you melt them. Prioritize their blader."

" _Got it. Should I switch my rifle to the M14 EBR, then?"_

"Your choice. The faster you melt the blader, the better."

" _I'll go with my usual set-up, then."_

"Understood. You've got your sidearm, Two?"

" _I have it."_

"Good. That covers initial strategy. We'll change it up as necessary, but that's the initial plan."

I take a look at their status screen.

BOOKER 1: RAPHAEL REVIVE - PILOT ID: URSULA REINHARDT  
SHIELDS: 100%  
EQUIPMENT:  
BARRET XM109 ANTI-MATERIAL SNIPER RIFLE  
VECTOR SUBMACHINE GUN  
HEAT FLARES [4/4]  
COMBAT KNIFE  
PILE DRIVER

BOOKER 2: UCHIGANE KAI - PILOT ID: TAIGEI NOMIDA  
SHIELDS: 100%  
EQUIPMENT:  
COMBAT KATANA  
COLT .45  
HEAT FLARES [4/4]

"Alright… here we go. Whenever you're ready, Booker Team."

Both of them step onto their launching catapults and flip their acknowledgement lights. Stoneson lights hers up before looking at me. I adjust my headset and put my hand over the switch, noticing that on the display the words OVERLORD 2 - MEGHAN STONESON: READY

"Ready, Booker Team?"

" _Let's do this."_

I see the words pop up on screen: BOOKER 1 - URSULA REINHARDT: READY

" _Mhm."_

The words come up on the screen: BOOKER 2 - TAIGEI NOMIDA: READY

"Acknowledging readiness."

I hit the switch, making me the last one to ready up. On the display, my status shifts, now reading OVERLORD 1 - WEISS KAZUMA: READY.

The thirty second countdown begins. Everyone gets tensed up, ready for combat. Let's go…

The thirty seconds pass by quickly.

Three.

Two.

One.

Launch.

I see on the cameras that Reinhardt is straining to line up the shot, despite being just fired off the catapult, likely trying to get that early shot off.

"E-energy signal from the enemy side!"

"What?"

"Is she… the cannon is charging up!"

"Booker Team, dodge it!"

Firing right out of the gate?! The timing, it's insane, but she must be so familiar with her weapon that she knows the timing—

A white light streaks across the arena, slamming right into Reinhardt as she flies out on the catapult launch path. It strikes dead on, sending Reinhardt flying into the shield wall, where over the radio I hear a cry of pain, likely the impact being shielded but still sending her for a whirl, likely slightly disoriented from the impact.

"Booker One, report."

" _Kind of spinning after that hit, what the hell…"_

"Booker Two, move in, switch to your sidearm and keep their blader off Booker One. Focus on the blader, if she gets too close, Booker One can't take the shot. Everyone your keep on your toes, shit just _got real!_ "

* * *

 _ **Armored Hearts**_

* * *

Nomida hesitated for a brief moment before switching to her sidearm. Nothing special, just her .45 Colt.

 _That's right. I won't… be using my sword the whole time._

"Overlord Two!" Nomida shouted as she brought her visor on and darkened it. "Please…"

" _Please…?"_

"Please obscure their blader's face on my display." Nomida half-whispered as she raised her weapon. "I…"

" _I understand. As you wish, Booker Two."_

Stoneson understood it well and it worried her going into this battle. Nomida and Shinonono were friends. They weren't particularly close, no, but they understood each other and outside of the girls that were especially close to Orimura Ichika and thus knew Shinonono Houki more, Nomida was likely the closest girl to her. Actually, since the other girls were rivals in love (most likely, by her analysis), Nomida was probably the one girl that Shinonono trusted and felt companionship with here.

In the opposite direction, Shinonono was a friend outside their small group. They practiced together and were rather close in that regard, so unlike every other girl that wasn't part of their friend group…

She hadn't been ready to turn what she had learned on her. In her mind, someone like Reinhardt, someone like Cayden, she'd never have to turn her her sword on them. They would always be her ally. But Shinonono was someone she just wished would be an ally… but there were no guarantees.

But Nomida knew what it took to grasp victory, that much, Stoneson was certain of. And if it meant forcing yourself not to see the person in front of you as a friend, then so be it. She'd be there to help Nomida every step of the way.

And with that, the shots cracked through the air. Houki was brought to pause, knowing that a sniper rifle couldn't fire that fast. Which meant there was only one possibility...

...and it was Nomida, firing at her. Completely on point. Without hesitation. Even if it was just small amounts of damage, the intent had been made clear. But Houki didn't hold it against her. She knew what it was like to fight. Kendo was just one way of doing it, but if there was anything she had learned, it was that it didn't have a place on the battlefield.

And so, she charged forward, ready to attack Nomida, who quickly flew away, continuing to fire upon Houki when she wasn't reloading, while keeping out of Laura's distance. Her forward movement was faster than Nomida's reversal, but every second they weren't in range was crucial, as it meant—

—a solid hundred and sixty seven shield points were wiped from Houki's counter as the sound of a shot ringing out filled the arena.

" _This is Booker One, sorry to keep you waiting. Took me a while to get my head back in the game from being smacked into the wall. Moving into support."_

Reinhardt, from up above, fired again, forcing Houki away and buying enough time for Nomida to throw away her gun and draw her sword while accelerating forward in a swift motion, catching Houki who was moving away off guard with a slash going right for her throat.

But she was caught from the side and yanked away by Bodewig. The same was said for Houki, as right now it seemed Bodewig didn't care who was in her way. Or rather, she was going to throw anyone who _was_ in her way aside.

"I'm on your team, Bodewig-san!"

Bodewig was likely only pretending not to hear her as she used AIC to stop Nomida's attack.

"Kuh…!"

Nomida knew it was coming, but it still made her heart skip a beat. To completely halt her movements, not giving her any chance to dodge. She braced herself for a beatdown, knowing she was at Bodewig's mercy.

Yet externally, she never faltered. Even if her visor hadn't been covering them, her eyes had no hint of fear in them.

Because she knew that her Operator was watching. And that—

Bodewig paused for a moment, her focus broken as a direct hit wiped a solid hundred and fifty seven shield points from her reserves. Her focus had been completely off balance, replaced by a blinding, seething rage directed at those that had softened Noble Core. Even if she knew better, the emotions pouring out of her heart made it impossible to fall back to her usual cold and calculating methods.

In that crucial moment though, Nomida moved, putting her visor down. There was no need for obstructions against Bodewig and more importantly, Nomida wanted her to _know_.

Without any hesitation, she charged forward and slashed at Bodewig, a direct slice that if there were no shields, was meant to split her head right open, dealing another seventy six points of damage. The two locked eyes for a second, Bodewig's ice cold glare not even coming close to extinguishing the furious inferno in Nomida's eyes.

 _That's right…_ Nomida thought as she readied for another blitz.

 _You insolent girl…_ Bodewig thought as her face paled with rage.

— _you don't know a_ _ **thing about him!**_

A truth they both held in their hearts. Nomida might not have known a thing about Noble Core, the wastelands the boy who taught her how to fight caused, the fields of blood he had sown, and every life he had cut down. But… she knew what Bodewig didn't know about Kazuma Weiss, the kindness hidden away behind those eyes, his hard but firm nature, and willingness to believe.

And so, she would engrave it into Bodewig's soul. The truth about the boy named Kazuma Weiss.

As Nomida came in for another strike, Bodewig let out an anguished and rage-filled cry. Two wire daggers flew into her hands, as she wasn't even bothering to use them to restrain Nomida, beginning her rapid assault.

A small voice in Bodewig's head was trying to calm her down. This wasn't her. This wasn't what her training had prepared her for. She should be using everything she had learned to swiftly, efficiently, and brutally take down a target. However, it was drowned out by her rage. A rage that she couldn't quite place down the reason for.

Yes, she was angry, annoyed, and all of that against how they had seemingly corrupted Noble Core. But why did it ignite her so much inside? She didn't nearly have this kind of rage with Orimura Ichika, where she was willing to act more like a crazed dog that needed to be put down. Perhaps knowing what Orimura Chifuyu would think of her kept her in check? But yet, if Noble Core had been as close to her, wouldn't his disapproval been enough to sway her to stay her hand?

No, there had to be something else.

Perhaps… it was that Bodewig Laura had been left alone. Out of everyone she had met, the only person who might have been able to understand her was Noble Core. And all of this had just been jealousy.

That the one person she thought could reach out to her had been taken away from her. That there was someone else in his life that he could feel comfortable around.

And so she would take him back, for she had everything to gain by doing so.

The clash of blades sent sparks flying, though it was obvious Bodewig had the advantage. However, there was no hesitation in Nomida, unlike when she had dueled Houki. Despite the overwhelming advantage in Bodewig's favor, Nomida was keeping up.

Even Houki had to admit that Nomida's skills had suddenly jumped—likely a result of a certain Operator—as Nomida looked like she was wielding a metallic fan with how quickly she moved, being able to parry and block Bodewig's terrifying assault, almost as if it were right out of a movie.

"Gauh!"

Bodewig let out a cry as her vision suddenly became white. Nomida had apparently something hidden to deploy flares and used it to temporarily blind Bodewig in order to get away. With a suddenly boost as her visor came back on, she crashed straight into Houki with the intent of splitting her in half, with the latter realizing she had been distracted.

Houki blocked, but the force of the attack managed to stagger her. Nomida wouldn't be able to get an attack that ea—

It was only too late that she realized what intent was as another one hundred and eighty three shield points were taken from her.

"Seeeeei—"

Houki readied to counter another strike from Nomida, but it never came. Bodewig had recovered and stopped Nomida's attack. Houki immediately seized on the moment, slashing horizontally. However, her attack never made it, as Bodewig had used her wire daggers to sang Nomida and drag her away.

"I had her, Bodewig-san!"

Houki knew the complaint was falling on deaf ears, but she felt like she had to at least say something as Nomida was dragged over, Bodewig leading off the attack by kicking Nomida in the back. Her wires went slack as the girl was tossed into the air before Bodewig used her wires to swing her down, slamming Nomida into the ground.

"It's over." Bodewig hissed as she approached, readying for the coup de grace.

" _Booker Two, you need to move, now!"_

" _Booker One, enemy swordsman going straight for you."_

Houki had some reservations about preventing Reinhardt from getting a clean shot in, but in her head, she thought that maybe if the battle was ended soon, then Bodewig wouldn't be able to lash out as much. Minimize the time she had to fight—that was the goal.

"Copy that, Overlord One."

" _Booker Two, be advised, sniper support will be engaged."_

 _Ah,_ Nomida thought. _So this is where I would die._ _But I…_

 _...still want my dream!_

"Booker One, now!"

With a loud **roar** perfectly timed with to the crack of a sniper rifle, Nomida struggled as Bodewig activated AIC to prevent another critical shot to her. Cutting off the wires that bound her, she used another flare even though she knew it wouldn't work as well this time to fully get away.

" _Blader incoming!"_

Reinhardt silently nodded, using her own flare to buy herself a little bit of time. However, it wasn't enough as Houki had anticipated it, forcing Reinhardt to block with her sniper rifle due to the position it was in.

 _Cheh, should've used radial shielding…!_

She mentally beat herself up as Kazuma reported that the sniper rifle had taken some pretty hefty damage. In a single fluid movement her hands moved, now wielding the sniper rifle more like a club.

 _Time, time, I just need time!_

Houki charged in first, intent on not giving her the space to switch her weapons. Reinhardt met her strike with a wild swing, using the main area of the sniper rifle's momentum to smack Houki's sword aside. However, it left her completely wide open as she wasn't used to using such an improvised weapon—a mistake that Houki punished her for, leaping right into a set of critical blows that brought her shield points low.

Reinhardt reached for her knife and drew it as she attempted to fly towards the shield "wall". Houki charged in again, but this time Reinhardt was a bit more prepared. Waiting for the right moment, she swung her right arm and pushed Houki's attack to the side. But it wasn't enough as she still was chipped as Houki redirected the blade to scrape her.

In retaliation, Reinhardt used her left hand and grabbed the back of Houki's head, slamming it into the shield wall. Houki let out a surprised cry before Reinhardt went for what would have been a knife to the neck. Houki managed to fight her off and push her away before it was too late, the two of them resuming a fighting stance.

The whole time, Nomida was closing in, pursued by Bodewig. Nomida's forward speed was just enough to keep her out of AIC's range for now, though the window between them was slowly diminishing as she had to keep dodging the incoming wire daggers.

" _Booker Two, energy signature coming from enemy IS! She's trying to get a lock on you!"_

At the booth, Stoneson realized that Bodewig was readying another shot. She didn't have to catch up if that shot hit—

" _Booker Two, line up with Booker One. Booker One, get ready to dodge. Overlord Two, let me know when she's about to fire."_

" _C-copy that…!"_

Stoneson turned her head and looked at Weiss, who seemed to be at a strange calm. He was putting them in the same line of fire. Even if that railgun didn't have the power to penetrate through Nomida, then…

"We're going to exploit their lack of communication." Weiss said as he put a hand on her shoulder. "Trust me on this one."

"You can't expect me to do that without you telling me what the plan is. Our friends are out there."

Weiss paused as he continued to monitor the battle, then nodded.

"Alright. Good on you, now—"

Nomida was about to enter combat range when Kazuma finished explaining the plan to Stoneson.

" _Booker Two, enemy unit is about to fire. On my mark, barrel to the right. Booker One, let your guard crumple on the same mark."_

"I copy, Overlord One."

Three.

Two.

One.

" _Now!"_

Nomida barreled to the right. Reinhardt purposely let her guard crumple, being pushed back by Shinonono—

—who promptly ate the railgun shot that was dodged, sending her into the wall.

The two pilots quickly took advantage, Reinhardt switching to her SMG and emptying the magazine into Houki. Nomida hesitated for a solid two seconds before she gripped her sword tightly and with a roar, threw herself at Houki, slamming the railgunned swordswoman into and down the wall before Nomida brought her sword high and struck.

" _Enemy IS down. Disengage."_

Reinhardt moved to defend Nomida as Bodewig drew near along the ground.

However, Nomida simply looked down at Shinonono as her visor faded away. Beneath her was the person she called friend, laid low by her own hand. She could feel her heart sinking and tears in her eyes.

 _A… ah… I should have hesitated more._

" _Booker Two, I need your help!"_ Reinhardt's voice called over the radio.

Those words snapped Nomida up to attention. Shinonono might have been her friend…

...but Reinhardt was closer to her than that. She hesitated to fight Shinonono, but if there was anything that would spurn her to action, it was her companion.

"I'm coming, Booker One!"

And as she pulled away from the defeated Shinono…

"I'm sorry, Shinonono-san."

Meanwhile, Reinhardt was grumbling as AIC blocked the bullets she fired at Bodewig. She moved to the right to dodge another wire dagger, but was brought right into a trap as two more wire daggers were moving into the ensnare her.

A sound along the terms of _shink, shink_ rang out before Reinhardt noticed Nomida had deflected two of the daggers coming for her. Now that they were all back on the ground, it might play out more like a conventional battle.

" _Stay on the ground, you two. In the air she can use those wire daggers from below."_

"Copy that." Both of them said as they glanced at each other. With the only other threat gone, the two could let their teamwork shine, despite the damage they had taken. Bodewig's railgun shot along with the impact of the wall, plus Houki's attacks had taken their toll, and the same could be said for Laura's vicious beatdown.

"Booker Two, you're in front."

"Mhm."

With that, Nomida charged ahead, her sword positioned as if she was ready to behead Bodewig in one fell swoop. Reinhardt dashed off to the side, opening fire with her SMG, forcing Bodewig to make a decision on who to use AIC on.

Stopping Nomida who was closer, she sent her wire daggers to deal with Reinhardt while she went to punish Nomida. However, due to AIC requiring her focus, she couldn't use any complex movements with those wire daggers—meaning that Reinhardt simply dashed through them, taking the hits and charging Bodewig while shooting.

Nomida flared her thrusters up, even if she couldn't move, waiting for AIC's effect to drop as Reinhardt closed in. Bodewig turned away to kick Reinhardt away, but in that moment Nomida moved forward and struck her.

"Guh—"

"Seeeeeiyaaaah!

Bodewig stopped the next attack with AIC before retaliating with a series of kicks and wire dagger strikes, but before she could fully ensnare Nomida, she was pulled from behind and thrown down, Reinhardt immediately pouncing on her with a knife and stabbing repeatedly.

"Kuh…!"

Reinhardt hissed as Bodewig grabbed her armored wrist, stopping her from getting in another strike.

"Gah—"

Bodewig threw Reinhardt over, their positions reversing as Bodewig grabbed one of her wire daggers and tried to drive it into Reinhardt's throat.

However, before she was able to get in a third hit, she was knocked off by a flying tackle, causing her to roll along the ground.

" _Booker Two, your shie—"_

"Let go…!"

"Rein—"

"Nomida!"

Reinhardt threw her knife, Nomida catching it and trying to drive it into Bodewig's throat, the shields popping up to stop it from actually going through.

" _Booker Two—"_

"Reinhardt!"

Nomida abandoned the knife, throwing it back at Reinhardt—who caught it—before her shields ran dry. She was out of the match, Quietly letting go of Bodewig, Nomida got a small shove for her efforts, causing her to fall to the ground. She locked eyes with Reinhardt and gave her a nod.

This was it. They were likely finished.

Reinhardt swallowed. AIC would be the deciding factor here. Not to mention the tech gap. She didn't even have her specialty weapon. It was going to be one-sided, but still… she resolved to struggle to the end.

" _Booker One, Booker Two is down."_

"I know." Reinhardt replied, an unusual calm in her voice as her stance changed, ready for an assault.

" _Make her count."_

Reinhardt tried to move after those words, but she found that she couldn't. Likely it was AIC, keeping her in place. However, she knew Bodewig wouldn't just shoot her.

"Come on, are you just going to ogle me all day?" Reinhardt taunted, turning her voice channels off. She pushed back any hesitation or thoughts of shame as she continued. "I didn't figure you were one to stare, but I guess you want to know what gets Kazuma all hot and bo—"

Bodewig let out an angry cry as she leapt forward, her remaining wire daggers wrapping around Reinhardt and dragging her in, with AIC becoming inactive due to the lack of focus. Reinhardt tried to fend off the daggers as best as she could, but there were simply too many of them and she soon found herself pulled into a wild frenzy of kicks and punches.

At the end of it, Reinhardt was sent skidding across the ground, where she managed to pick herself up before AIC kept her in place again.

But it wasn't going to keep her mouth shut. "Come on, if you're going to pant after that, you'll ne—"

Reinhardt subjected herself to the same attack. It was obvious to anyone that one on one, she never stood a chance against Bodewig. However, this time…

"Gagh!"

Reinhardt had kept flares of her own, catching Bodewig off-guard in her whirlwind of attacks even if the latter knew she had them. In that opening, Reinhardt had blinded her, tackled her, and once they were on the ground, used her pile driver in an attempt to finish the match.

But it just wasn't enough. Bodewig simply hadn't taken enough damage, unlike when she used it against Mei, for it to be a decisive blow.

"Ah, guess that's just how it is." Reinhardt said with an uncharacteristic level of calm.

Treat this match like you'd die. And so she had. Knowing who her opponents were, she knew that their loss was inevitable. This had purely been a struggle to be a pain in the ass until the very end.

"Overlord One, do it."

Reinhardt closed her eyes as Bodewig raised her daggers to strike her—

When the buzzer went off, indicating that the match was over.

"What…"

Bodewig was confused. She hadn't… struck yet.

The realization dawned on her.

Reinhardt had purposely surrendered, ending the match.

" _Surrender successful, Booker One. We'll have to send someone to rescue you later, but for now please stay safe out there."_

"Copy, Overlord."

Reinhardt shot Bodewig a knowing, defiant smile as she went to Nomida, who had crawled away from the battle in order not to be in the way. She gave her a hand up, the two immediately giving a small smile at each other before their headsets crackled to life.

" _Alright, since the match is over, I'll break scenario. Come back home to us, pilots."_

* * *

 _ **Armored Hearts**_

* * *

"Welcome back." I say, greeting the two of them as they touch down in the hangar bay. "Good fight."

"It doesn't feel that good." Reinhardt grumbles as she goes over to the side and then dismounts her unit.

"I know it doesn't." I say as Nomida does the same, both of them avoiding my glance. "Both of you, look at me."

I see them turn their heads ever so slightly at my rather pressing tone.

"Defeat is defeat, but today you managed to come home alive. Hate it all you want, but you're still kicking. Live, improve, and kick her ass another day. If you have the luxury of being alive and having all your limbs working, that's the least you can do."

"It's just a little demoralizing, though." Reinhardt says with a small shrug. "We trained pretty hard, it's just… luck with our match up."

I wheel myself up and reach up to pat both of them on the shoulders. "Life's unfair, Reinhardt. But don't let it drag you down. There's only true failure here if you don't learn anything from this. Besides… Stoneson, give me the final readouts!"

" _Bodewig was well below forty percent shields according to the battle results!"_

"You both exceeded expectations. I imagine that if Shinonono had not been there, you would have been victorious through nothing but sheer teamwork. Do not be afraid, I have no lost any faith in you. Rather, it has been strengthened even more."

The frowns on their faces turn into small grins. That's right: a loss is a loss. The instant we were up against Bodewig, it was going to be all a wash. This fight was symbolic from the start. A showcase—that personal IS users weren't invincible to standard models. Just like how Normals can sometimes stand up to a NEXT in the right circumstances. It wouldn't be a common occurrence… but it's the stuff of legendary tales.

"Come on, both of you, hit the showers. Stoneson's doughnuts probably have dried out by now, but I'll treat you guys to something when you're all done."

They snap off sharp salute, complete with a "yessir!" before heading off.

I wheel myself back up into the Operator booth, finding Yumemi crossing her arms.

"The matches were random. I'm surprised they didn't account for the incident between them and Bodewig, but leave it to the school to do that." She says with a sigh. "They would have done spectacularly against an equally matched opponent. It's just a shame, is all."

"No loser's bracket?"

"Unfortunately, no. Kazuma-kun, I already am giving you high marks. Stoneson-chan, you're doing better than expected. Next time I'd like for you to take the lead."

The American girl seems to fumble with her words. "T-tha, wait, but—"

"You need experience in the lead operator seat." She says back.

"I have to agree with her there. There's going to come a day I won't be here to lead you, Stoneson. You have to be ready for that day."

"I see…" She says a bit dejectedly, though ultimately acknowledging the truth.

"You're all shaping up quite nicely, though. Good work, everyone. If you'll excuse me, I have to get to the next booth to oversee the next group. Take the rest of the day off."

"Thank you, sensei." Stoneson and I chime. I wait for her footsteps to be quiet before I start rolling out.

"Going to greet our two pilots?" Stoneson asks as I start going down a different hallway than her.

"Yeah. You got a problem with that?"

"No, no. Just don't ambush them in the shower~"

"Oh shut up…" I grumble, Stoneson laughing as we part ways.

I make my way over to where the two pilots are expected to come out, idly looking out the window and seeing the passing students outside. There's about forty five minutes until the next match, so everyone's roaming around on break.

"Hey."

I crane my head to look behind me before turning my chair around, finding Reinhardt waving and Nomida looking rather nervous one again.

"Something on your mind, Nomida?"

She fidgets for a second before stepping out to the side, facing both of us. She then quickly falls down to the ground, prostrating herself.

"It's my fault that we lost, please forgive me!"

Reinhardt and I glance at each other. She gives me a shrug before I wheel myself over and poke Nomida on the shoulder.

"First thing, stand up."

Nomida shakily gets up, avoiding either of our gazes. She uses my wheelchair as a support, with Reinhardt coming behind me to keep it in place.

"Why do you say that?" I ask.

There's a few moments of heavy silence before she opens her mouth.

"E… even with your lessons, Kazuma-san… I… I hesitated to strike Shinonono-san! She's a friend so I… I… taking her life, I couldn't make myself do something like that! Treating her like someone I was going to kill, it's…!"

Ah… I suppose I didn't prepare her to deal with that. I never had to. Mei and I… have always been on the same side.

"That's an okay hesitation to have."

Nomida looks down at me, her mouth slightly open in surprise. She looks half ready to cry, too.

"If someone told me to shoot Mei, of course I'd hesitate. Having to potentially kill your friends, anyone would have second thoughts."

"Then… what should I do?"

I reach up and brush away some of her tears. "That dream I told you to pursue, remember it. If it is worth the sacrifice of your friend, then that is unfortunate, but that is something only you can decide. However, if it is not… then fight to save your friend and your dream. Defeat them swiftly and force a surrender or their incapability. You don't want to kill Shinonono? Then don't hesitate to force her to retreat. Empty her shield points and then incapacitate her."

"Ah…"

"What your pursue doesn't have to be rigid. It can change as you need it to. You can't account for everything, so sometimes you'll have to make a critical decision on the spot about what you're willing to sacrifice."

"M-mhm!" She says with a nod, looking like a massive weight has been taken off her shoulder.

"So don't blame yourself. If anything it was my fault. I taught you without nuance, and so when forced with something not black and white, you short circuited."

"It's… not your fault, Kazuma. It's both of our faults. I can't… always rely on what you tell me. I have to think for yourself, too."

"That's right. You aren't an extension of me." I say, getting a nod in reply back from her.

Nomida lets go of my wheelchair and Reinhardt steps next to her, the two girls smiling at each other.

"You mean _we're_ not extensions of you, right?"

"That's right." I say to Reinhardt, who then gives a small laugh.

"Ah, it still feels bad, though. I was hoping to write home about a victory." She says, scratching the back of her head.

"Yeah, I guess luck just wasn't on our side. It's fine, though. Besides, I think it's time I start training you two together. Your displays here have showed me that you're both ready. Reinhardt, your mentality has been rather good from the start; Nomida, you've caught up enough to the point I think you're ready. So, we can begin training together. After I push Nomida to her limit again."

"But…" Nomida says, raising her hand slightly to object. "I lost…"

"Consider today a spiritual victory, then. Now, come on. A doughnut was okay for breakfast, but honestly I'm starved, and I since we have the day off, let's go to the mainland. My treat."

Both of them look at each other and smile. Reinhardt moves behind me and starts pushing, Nomida falling into step behind her.

"Okay then, Kazuma, but I hope you're fine paying for lobster."

"Who the hell said I was paying?" I snap back.

"A-ah, well, I guess I can't ask for that _prix fixe_ menu at one of the restaurants I was looking at…"

"Nomida, too?!"

The shy blader giggles, likely being emboldened by Reinhardt's presence here.

"That's it, everyone's getting a kid's meal at the first fast food joint we drop by and you're going to enjoy it." I grumble, the two girls (jokingly) protesting at my choice as I roll myself away.

That's right—today might have been a defeat in battle, but it's not the end. It's a real luxury, to be afforded a second chance. Let's make the most of it, in the peace we have now… and for the battle that we will have later.

* * *

 **Wew, there we go.**

 **The fight choreography (as in, the tide of the battle, who's doing what), took me a while to solidify. I liked the end product and thought it showed Nomida's development. I might take a bit to focus more on Reinhardt though, since a lot of focus has been on Nomida, but that's arguably because she's being caught up to speed with the others and whatnot. I think at this point I can afford to focus a bit more on the others, balance them out and whatnot.**

 **Let me know what you guys thought of the battle, I'm trying to figure out how to make each one feel unique. This one was fun because it was mainly Nomida vs Bodewig centric, especially with their conflicting views on Weiss. I think I could have afforded a part that focused on Reinhardt, but maybe that should be saved for a battle that really focuses on her and the development she gets, rather than trying to slide it into a battle that's mostly about Nomida and ending up spoiling her moment.**

 **I was debating also explicitly showing the "Reinhardt threatens to blow Bodewig away", but I think it was better to just cut to them being detained and then them talking about it.**

 **Anyways, other than that I don't have much to say. I was writing the next chapter while writing this and it's kind of like, well, next chapter I think is going to focus a little more on the "world at large". I know some people have been questioning the setting and with the recent chapters being the "buildup" to the clash with Bodewig, a small breather could be used to explore the world. Get a feel for what's happening and whatnot.**

 **See you guys then!**


	14. World Wide Phenomenon

**WOW HI GUYS IT'S LESS THAN THIRTY MINUTES IN 2018 AND I LOST TRACK OF TIME WHOOP WHOOP WHOOP LET'S GO!**

 **Wow, that's a long time between updates. Between looking for a job, keeping my grades up, and senior year in general, wew, no time for this.**

 **But fortunately, next semester should be incredibly easy and I've found work. So, I suppose you should see more updates. Assuming I don't just go fool around playing Octopath and Smash for an entire semester, haha. I have written this and a few more chapters, so hopefully I'll be able to put out regular updates or something. I might also be working on an original project, so we'll see about it.**

 **Anyways, let's just get on with the chapter. Here we go! I'll put review replies later since I am IIIIIN A RUSH.**

* * *

 **Chapter 14:** World Wide Phenomenon

* * *

"Feeling nostalgic?"

The silence of the archives room was broken with those two words. MT looked up and to her right, seeing down the rows and rows of metallic grey shelving in the admittedly dreary if not well-lit room to see who it was.

"Ma'am." MT said, immediately putting her folder down on the table next to her and saluting to the dress-suited-up Rebecca, who walked over to her and glanced down at the folder.

"You can relax, MT. I was just down here for likely the same reasons as yourself." Rebecca said, running her left hand across her face, brushing her short ginger bangs out of her green eyes as she looked away from the folder MT had put down.

"I doubt we were going to be looking at the same files."

"Indeed. But, my question?"

"I… perhaps, yes." MT said, taking her folder back into her hands.

"You and Weiss were a good team." Rebecca said as she looked through the folder list, then grabbed a file.

"It wasn't enough to take out Goddess Ascendant." MT muttered back, looking down at the ground. "...we should have won that day."

Rebecca shut the folder with a bit more force than she intended. "Don't blame yourself. It's not your fault, after all."

"I know, but it's just… if we had won that day, would we still be well… here?"

"Most likely not. Out of curiosity, have you told our current four zero three fours about your stint?" Rebecca asked, turning her head towards MT, who simply shook her head.

"No. As far as they know, I'm just a handler. They don't need to know, anyways. If you order me to do so, I'll have no issue with it."

"No, no, don't worry about that. I just wanted to know if you had told them, is all. So, is nostalgia the only reason you were here?"

MT shook her head as she tabbed through the files in the folder she was holding. "No, ma'am. I was just thinking that maybe there was something we had overlooked. Maybe something that could give us a better clue to Phantom Task. They're slippery, that's for sure, so I just wanted to make sure that we really didn't miss a thing."

"I see. Good on you."

"But ma'am, I doubt you would have just come down randomly. Did you need me for something?"

"I was here just to fulfill some curiosity, but it was just fortunate I ran into you."

"What do you require of me, ma'am?"

"You're being fielded again, MT, so go down to the range and make sure you're well acquainted. I trust that someone who was once a four zero three four wouldn't slip so easily, but you should make sure that you're up to snuff."

"Where am I going?"

"France. Picking up… an old ally." Rebecca said, handing over another folder which MT took. In it detailed an extraction plan of one Abraham Dunois. "His plan to slip out of the spotlight is almost complete, so you'll be there to make sure he makes it to us."

"I see. He'll be extracted successfully. Having him back on the team would definitely be beneficial. Have we dug up his old unit?"

"It's in the works, which is why I'm trusting you to make sure of his extractions. We need as many pilots on deck as we can get."

"I see. If I'm going to France, are we picking up Lisarene's research?"

"She's not quite done yet with it, so negative on that."

"Got it."

"Additionally, plans are being moved up. Protocol Musical Call has been in invoked, Phase One is in two days."

"Two days?"

"A friend of ours tipped us off. We have to move."

"Disavowed, huh…" MT chuckled, shaking her head. "Never thought we'd see the day."

"It was bound to happen the day we dug up something a little too dirty that had to be swept under the rug. We're going to be fielding you quite a bit in the near future, so be ready for that as well."

"Of course. If you'll excuse me, I'll go and prepare now."

With that, MT shut her folder and tucked it underneath her armpit, then saluted before leaving Rebecca.

The times, they were certainly changing…

* * *

"Okay, calm down, calm down…"

Katalina Granger was nervous. Very, very nervous, as she was meeting her senator today, _at_ the headquarters of her non-profit organization, _Buried Hatchet_. She had started it with a friend, well, she supposed she was a friend. They had originally met online and then eventually met in person, doing all sorts of fundraising and outreach activities to grow their message, before her partner suddenly had to leave, but swore she'd continue to support her from afar.

Their message? That the Armored Cores should all be decommissioned and done away with.

The IS had managed to bring out a sort of still peace, but the only threat to it was the proliferation of the AC, especially NEXTs, that's what Katalina had thought. Her partner had told her about all the horror stories, of kids being made to pilot those machines, and dying in the wastelands in the middle of mercenary wars. However, as resources ran dry, the ACs would stop fighting, and a coordinated, multi-national effort to stop them would see the rampaging conflict end sooner than later.

Her partner had always been very passionate about it. Maybe she had been personally affected or knew someone who was. A world without the AC, a peace brought about by the IS being the new top dog on the block… wouldn't that be nice? Though sometimes, Katalina wondered how exactly that peace would last, if all that was keeping it in check was that no one was willing to suffer the mark of being the first one to break the Alaska Treaty. But it was an okay first step, and having one weapon of the world dismantled was better than none.

"It's not like you to be so uptight."

"Hawawa—"

In the doorway was her partner. The one who had to leave, citing family business, and that she'd be busy for quite some time. She shouldn't be here, she shouldn't—

Her partner smiled, her immaculate white teeth shining with confidence. The sunlight filtering through the windows sparkled off of her blonde hair that went down past her shoulders, and her eyes had their familiar light green sheen to them. If only she knew that those were contacts obscuring the blood red eyes underneath.

"Have you already forgotten my name, Katalina? That hurts, you know?"

"No, no! Of course not, Sheila!"

Sheila Aveen, yes, that was her name. If you were Katalina Granger, or anyone who had interacted with them. But if one knew the truth, they would've no doubt realized that this entire thing… was all a sham. Just another pawn for Phantom Task, and more specifically Squall Meusel, to move around the board.

"You've managed to grow a lot without me. I'm a little bit sad." She said, walking forward over to Katalina's desk. "But I'm also very proud."

"W-where have you been?" Katalina said, standing up from her desk.

"I was overseas. I couldn't say anything, so this one's just between us, right?" Meusel leaned in and smiled. "I was helping getting things ready for the denouncement of the AC."

"R… really?!"

"Mhm. Africa has really been hard hit and I had a friend over there. I would have loved to bring us both, but you needed to be here to grow the movement. Sorry to lie about it being family business, but they insisted."

"And even so, you were supporting me…"

"Well, I can't just forget you, right?" Meusel gave another small grin as she pointed at the patch sewn on the jacket hanging off of Katalina's chair. It was a badly stitched sunflower with a smiley face on it, looking like it had been created by a six year old. "You kept it?"

"You made it with me, so of course I did." Katalina mumbled as she looked away. "Are you staying?"

"I'll be in town for a while, so yes. Maybe we should go have dinner some time?"

"Y-yes, we should! Of course! Oh, but not tonight, I have to meet with a group of high school students who were interested in spreading our message to their school."

"Ah, of course, of course. I'm glad, though, we might actually get to see our dream come true."

 _And then_ , Meusel thought as she closed her eyes as Katalina went on about the students she was going to meet. _And then, that will be one less obstacle for me to overcome. All of my shameless followers who think it will be some glorious revolution when we rise will fall by my hand. This was never about world domination or ruling the world, unlike what they think._

 _Disgusting. Absolutely disgusting. They should never be handed the keys to the world. The only ones who should be able to lead the world are the ones willing to give everything for it. But in order to reach that point, I will have to dismantle the AC._

 _Because at the end of the day, this is simply to erase the biggest threat to peace. I can lead them there with the IS, but not the AC. It's just too unregulated. Every day, a NEXT pilot could be born, trained, raised, and defeat me. But with the IS, there's far too much red tape in the way. And I'll exploit that to the very end, to achieve my dream._

She had masterminded it all from the shadows, whether it be through blackmail, murder, seduction, or any number of unsavory methods. She had a vision in her heart, a peace that would be brought about through her. She would lead the world into a new era, with the IS as her sword.

For that, she had demonized the AC, working with her compromised media outlets to constantly push for their removal. Over the years, it had been incredibly successful. She played on people's envy and when the sentiment had come up that it would be women's time to shine and dethrone men, she capitalized on that, too, even if she herself did not believe it—even if she found herself disgusted by it. To her, no one was owed anything. It was up to oneself to craft their own future. To blame history for your failures was just an excuse in her eyes.

After all, throughout history there were plenty of who carried a goal of world peace, and they had all failed. History stated that she would fail—yet she would not allow the follies of hundreds of men and women drag her down.

Now, she was on the precipice of her goal. The AC had mostly been subdued in the popular culture. A constant, years-long barrage of calling it a machine for murderers, a demonization and stigmatization of mercenaries, and she herself hunting down its top proliferators had made it unsavory to the public. The temptation to bring power back into the hands of governments and ruling bodies as opposed to relying on a mercenary branch made it easy to convince politicians and bureaucrats to support the IS over the AC. Dissenters to the decommissioning of ACs were quietly dismissed and her own puppets in media outlets hushed it all down.

Meusel quietly begged for forgiveness as she put on a smiling face and continued to talk to Katalina. Even though she had sacrificed a lot for her goal, there was plenty she considered unsavory.

"Something wrong, Sheila?"

"Hm?"

"You seemed to frown at that latest story."

"Ah." Meusel closed her eyes, thinking. "Something about it rubs me the wrong way, is all."

"Oh…"

"If you see that boy, Robert, was it? I'd like to talk to him. Something about that situation just feels wrong. Even if he supports the AC, he shouldn't just be completely discarded just because he's a boy."

Katalina was silent as she scanned over Meusel, trying to get a feel for what she truly meant by her words.

"What I mean to say, Katalina, is that to discard opposed opinions is foolhardy. Even if he is a boy—" _Disgusting. Absolutely disgusting, that I have to say that._ "—it is best to show that an opinion is wrong than to simply throw it away. There is nothing that is above debate."

"I see… your trip to Africa certainly shifted your viewpoints a bit, hm, Sheila?"

 _Perhaps I simply became tired of living a lie._ "Artillery makes no difference between man and woman, Katalina."

Again, she quietly begged for forgiveness. To slander, defame, and smear the history of the world—all to suit a world that had suddenly experienced this shift of supposed "equality". Meusel knew she had a hand in it, even if she did not believe in it. It had been just a useful tool to push the AC out.

 _But I will fix it, when my goal is reached._

In due time, she knew, things would balance out. She would balance them out herself, if need be, when the time came.

Men, women, countries, society's structure—it all was a necessary sacrifice.

 _So forgive me, Katalina, for even if all of your motivations are not pure, your intentions are. And I will use them to pave the way to the utopia of my own making._

* * *

 _ **Armored Hearts**_

* * *

"Ha…"

"Done?" I ask, though I don't move from my spot. I'm currently sitting on a picnic table, where roughly twenty feet from me, Nomida is on her knees, still dressed in full kendo uniform.

Of course, I don't move because I made that incorrect assumption last time, and Nomida tried to use it as an ambush. She even waited for me to roll in close with the wheelchair before she attacked me. Cheeky brat.

...on the other hand, I've taught her well. I shouldn't have made that assumption. I suppose I need to remind myself that Nomida isn't the same girl she was when I began teaching her.

"Yeah…"

"Do you mean that?"

Nomida takes off her gloves and then removes the _tsuba_ of her shinai. After a pause, she undoes her helmet's laces and then puts it off to the side.

"I am done, instructor Kazuma."

"Don't ever call me that again." I mutter as I climb back over and ease myself into my wheelchair, where I roll forward and give a hand to Nomida. I help her up to her feet, where she pretty much collapses into my lap.

"S… sorry." she whispers very shakily, her voice quivering. "I… I really gave it my all."

"Can you stand?"

"K… kind of."

"If you need a moment to gather your strength, that's fine. We have plenty of time."

Nomida nods, allowing herself to go slack. I try to help her at least get in a more comfortable position, but it really just ends up with her almost sitting in my lap. I push us over to the table where there's a few benches, but Nomida doesn't seem to want to move.

"You know there's more room on the bench."

"Tired."

I sigh, shaking my head.

"How did I do?"

"Well, you've learned well. Thanks for nearly pulling me out of my wheelchair."

"I didn't think I could win in a straight fight, so I had to try for an opening. I was on my last legs by the time we had started dueling."

"That's good. That's how you should fight."

"But, Kazuma-san, you were kind of sloppy. I didn't think you would actually come in…"

I roll my eyes as she gives a goofy smile, likely half-loopy from exhaustion.

"I underestimated you, so I slipped up. If I hadn't been as careful, you would have gotten me."

"I'm glad… I was able to get that close."

"I'm not going to go as easy on you next time, then."

"Aw… but, I'm surprised at myself, too." Nomida pauses, so I look down and give her a small nod to press her to continue. "Even though you were in a wheelchair, I was still willing to rip you from it in order to win. I didn't see myself being that kind of person, but I think it might be because it was you."

"Because it was me?" I ask, giving her that small push to make sure she has the full answer that she needs for herself.

"Because… you were a combatant. If you had just been anyone else, I don't think I could have done it." She stops, then shakes her head. "No, I know I couldn't have done it. I wouldn't have done it at all. Because unless they were trying to harm me, then I would absolutely refuse."

"Good." I say, Nomida tilting her head and opening her mouth in surprise. "It means you've drawn a line in the sand. That's good."

"It is?"

"Yes. It's what differentiates soldiers from attack dogs and weapons. You've got a sense of autonomy, of choice, and you have standards. A thing you absolutely wouldn't do. That's what I wanted to raise you as—as a fighter, a soldier, not an attack dog or weapon. If I wanted to train an attack dog that would simply kill or follow my command without any hesitation, then hesitation like that would be seen as a weakness. But you're not an attack dog, you're not a weapon."

"Mhm." Nomida nods, coming to an understanding. "...thank you, Kazuma-kun."

I hear an "eep" and see Nomida's face turn red. I did say that it was fine for her to call me that, but I guess it's still embarrassing for her.

"S-sorry, I assumed—"

"It's fine. I don't mind. Besides, I told you after that incident with the unmanned unit it was fine to call me by my given name, so I don't mind."

"Ah, I see… so-sorry. Um, so I should call you that from now on?"

"If you're comfortable with it."

"Okay."

We simply sit there for a while in silence while Nomida rests. About ten minutes pass before I break it.

"Nomida-san."

"Kazuma-s- _kun_?"

"I wanted to ask about your family." I hesitate, feeling her tense up in my lap. "If you don't want to—"

"No."

"Hm?"

"I… want to tell you. I really, really have wanted to tell you for the longest time. But it's just… hard for me. Though… if you ask me, just enough to give me a small push..."

I see Nomida slowly get up from my lap, stretch, and then slowly remove the armor from her chest. She lets its fall to the ground as she walks towards the handrail, the wind kicking her hair around and causing her hakama to billow about. I see her close her eyes and nod to herself as the wind dies down, her hair sparkling in the sunset.

"Do you still remember the story I told you?" She asks, and I realize that she really has gathered the strength that I saw in her that night.

"Yeah."

"Hehe. Well… it was very obvious that girl was me. I wanted to grow up to be a doctor. I didn't want to have to fight like this at first. I never even had to be at the dojo, because I was at the top of my class. Everyone said I was going places, that I could be a top doctor. It was nice, they were better days. My sister was also the star pupil of our dojo, too, and we were becoming a well known family. I suppose that my mother somehow, I don't know how, knew the Orimuras, or was at least jealous of their fame, and then began to drill my older sister into being a pilot. She was an ace at fighting, too. She was smart as well, learning all of the material quickly. She would have been our star pilot—

"But… my sister turned out to have a heart condition that flared up when she went for her flight test to be a pilot. The sudden motions and force exerted on pilots agitated her condition, which is why we hadn't picked up on it before. So… my mother wanted to raise me instead. I had to withdraw from most of my extracirriculars in medicine to change my schedule to learn kendo and completely shift myself to start studying for the IS Academy exam. I saw my friends less and less. Eventually we just stopped hanging out, then texting, then even talking.

"Most girls spend most of growing up studying for this, all three years of junior high and even before then. I spent a year and a half, but my test scores were good enough to the point that even with my subpar piloting, they let me in."

Nomida pauses, laughing.

"I'm supposed to be a doctor, saving lives, not… taking them. I shouldn't be with Reinhardt side by side, but for when she comes back from a battle. It was all for one reason, though. My sister… said that she wanted to see me fly. And so I pushed myself to do it. Even though I lost all of my friends who all wanted to go to medical school with me, I pushed myself. I graduated from junior high all alone, but I had it—the smile of my sister, saying she was proud of me. She's always been someone dear to me and she did so much for me, so being able to do that much made me feel so alive. And after all of that...

"Then… well, I met you, Kazuma-kun. And the rest is history, isn't it?"

"Ha, yes. Though, what about now? You were supposed to be a doctor, but now?"

"Now…" Nomida opens and closes her mouth a few times, not saying anything before taking a second to collect herself, turning to face me as the wind of course, picks up so it blows her hair to my right in a suitably dramatic fashion. "...I'm ready to stand at your side. I'd still like to become a doctor, maybe in the future, but for now… I might have been forced to fight, but now I choose to fight. I want to stand by Reinhardt-san, Cayden-san, Stoneson-san, um, well, I guess Lisarene-san is part of our team, and… you."

"Good to hear."

I'm glad that you've reached this point, Nomida.

"So… thank you, Kazuma-kun. For indulging me today and… for listening."

"I'm your teammate. It's what I do."

She gives a bright smile. "Mhm!"

Ah…

...geez. I felt… rather calm, seeing that smile of hers. She's at a real peace, confident at knowing her place. This… feeling in my chest, I wonder what it is. It's what I felt… coming home from a mission. Coming home from a mission, about to step out of Orbital Static, knowing that Mei was on the other side of the door, waiting for me with a big smile on her face.

That's right… this place is somewhere I can call home. No, it's the people. If… we were anywhere else, I could still call it home, as long as I was with them. Even if it hadn't been Rainbow Stream or our home base, as long as someone like Mei was on the other side of that door, it'd be home.

"Kazuma-kun?"

"Hm?"

"You were… smiling."

I reach up and touch my mouth, finding that I really was. So I was…

"A-anyways, I'm going to go clean up! You should probably get dinner, I wouldn't want to keep you!"

I look up, broken out of my thoughts, and find Nomida immediately moving to go and pick up all of her belongings. She scoops them all up and seems to run away as fast as she can...

"Alright. I'll see you later, Nomida-san." I say, despite her being too far to hear me, beginning to roll myself to my next destination.

* * *

"You seem distracted."

"Reinhardt, didn't expect to see you up here." I say, leaning back in my wheelchair.

After talking with Nomida, I went up to the observation tower on campus and decided just to think. I felt… conflicted. I have… a place I'd like to call home, but… I'm terrified of becoming… soft. Perhaps I simply am scared of change. Or maybe it's a growing discomfort, knowing that I would be, well…

...leaving that world behind. The world of the AC. Of Hidden Hand. I know MT told us that we need to, but… there's something left. I can't just leave. So perhaps I'm terrified that in gaining a home and people that I might want to protect other than Mei, I'd have lost something I needed to defend them.

And that fills me with an indescribable terror.

"Something must really be on your mind."

I blink, realizing that Reinhardt has come up next to me, sitting on the bench.

"You didn't even say anything when I came up next to you. Should've brought a marker."

"Oh, shut up. How'd you find me?"

"I saw you leaving the park area with Nomida. You seemed really out of it, rolling right past Cayden without saying a word. The fact you didn't notice me following you tipped me off, as well."

"That bad, huh?"

"What's on your mind, Kazuma?"

"I don't know if I can really talk about it."

"Hmm… okay."

"That's it?" I ask, raising an eyebrow. "Not going to push me?"

"I don't think anyone could ever force you to talk, so there's no point in trying to force it out of you." She says, waving her hand around. "So really, if you won't say anything, I won't ask any further. But, I will simply let you know that if you want someone to listen to you, then I will be here for you."

"...alright."

We sit in silence for a little bit, just looking out at the island.

"...Reinhardt."

"Kazuma?"

"I… well, perhaps it might be good to ask you, since you were raised in a more traditional military environment."

"I'm listening?"

"I've… well, I was the operative, right?"

"You were." She says, though I can tell she's skeptical of my whole story.

"So, the times I fought were rare, but they were there. I always had a reason to fight. Just one. But recently, I feel like… I've had more. More reasons to fight. But that one reason I had before carried me. It's what gave me everything I needed. Yet I feel like… while I've gained more reasons to fight, my capability to do so has been decreased, somehow."

"Ah, I get it." Reinhardt puts her hands on her hips when I look at her with a 'Really?' expression. "No, it was my dad who told me about it. When he joined the navy, it was because he loved his country. Then he met my mother, and then he fought because he loved his country and his wife. Then my brothers came along, and he piled on more and more reasons to fight. But sometimes it feels like all of those reasons are pulling you around, or that your will to fight is being spread thin.

"I think… he once told me that it's just a feeling. It's not true. Every reason you have to fight, if they synergize with each other, you might not feel it all the time, but when the time is right, when everything is on the line, you'll see how capable you are."

I close my eyes and think on it. If everything were to be threatened all at once, huh…

...I definitely would push myself beyond anything I would have ever done before. That much is certain. But it doesn't quite solve that feeling or worry that I'm less able to fight. Like I've grown soft.

"Thanks, Reinhardt."

"Ursula."

"Hm?"

"When we're alone… Ursula is just fine. We're friends, right?"

"Ursula-san, or…"

"Just… just Ursula." She says, scratching her chin.

"Then, just call me Weiss when we're alone."

Seeing that we both had Western roots, it's nothing really major. If we were at a school in the West, we would have likely been doing so a while back. I suppose Reinhardt is a bit hesitant because of the implications at IS Academy, due to the Japanese culture that's prevalent here. Calling each other purely by first name would imply a deep amount of intimacy.

"Then, Ursula, thank you for that. It doesn't exactly solve my concern, but… it does give me something to think on." I say, leaning back in my chair.

"You're welcome. I'm glad I was able to help."

We sit around for a while longer as I continue to think about Reinhardt's words. I'll only know it when everyone's in danger, huh? Heh, maybe it was… that day, with the golem. On foot, no shields, a single shot on the live battlefield, against an IS. Would I have done that before… and then against Bodewig, threatening to have Reinhardt fire even though Orimura was out there.

"—iss?"

"Hm? Sorry, I was lost in thought." I say, looking towards Reinhardt.

"I wanted to ask if you wanted to do something tomorrow. There's… something I'd like to do."

"I mean, the fights are still going on, so of course I'm free. What time?"

"Maybe around eleven o'clock?"

"Works for me. Should I bring anything?"

She shakes her head. "Nope, please leave everything to me."

"Riiiight…"

"So, what now?"

"I guess we just wait for the battles to be done. You guys should have a small break before we really hit the ground running with your training."

"We have the class trip soon after this, too. You're going to make us really work that hard before it?"

"Work hard, play hard."

Reinhardt snorts as she rolls her eyes.

"Hey, you want to enjoy that vacation? Better earn it."

She laughs at that, looking out the window. "Alright, fine, fine. I'll earn the stupid vacation."

I simply roll my eyes as I look out the window as well, the silence overtaking us. There's not that much more that needs to be said between us. For now, we're just thankful that we don't have to deal with Bodewig. Though I wonder if Orimura will be able to keep up with her…

And there's still that annoying feeling in the back of my head, like something big is about to happen. Something that I could have prevented if I wasn't here. But at the same time, would I have found this place if I wasn't well… here? I wonder…

As much as I'd love to do something on my own, I'm nothing without the backing of Hidden Hand. Or perhaps it would be more appropriate to say I'm nothing but a very skilled operative without them. But I'm just a lone field operative. I don't have access to an AC, an information network, or anything like that which would help me investigate. For all the talk I gave to Nomida about not being a weapon, I ironically act as one. Point me at a target and I get the job done. I don't have to think about anything else besides accomplishing the mission.

Still, though… I guess I just have to keep doing what I've been doing. Preparing for the inevitable and keeping my guard up. I know we have enemies in the shadows. And I know that one day, they _will_ act. So I must be ever vigilant and ready… and perhaps these girls might take a stand with me, too. As much as I would prefer to keep them off the battlefield… it may just become an inevitability, as this Phantom Task seems to have its claws all over the world.

And if they can take out the previous 4034…

...then I better make sure they can't take out the current iteration.

* * *

 _ **Armored Hearts**_

* * *

"Good night, Reinhardt. Ah, er… good night, Ursula."

The girl nodded curtly. "Good night… Weiss."

The boy quietly wheeled himself away to the elevator as she continue to look out the window. One of the elevators dinged and he went inside, going down and leaving her alone.

Reinhardt let out a deep exhale of relief. The knot in her stomach finally loosened, a knot that had been in there since she followed him up the tower.

 _I… I finally asked him._

One might have been led to believe that Reinhardt had finally asked Kazuma out on a "date", but that was far from the truth. Or perhaps not as far, as her mind was currently half-thinking it as one. But rather than a chance to grow closer to him, it was…

 _I need to figure this out._

...a chance for her to finally sort out this feeling in her chest.

Over the past few days, Reinhardt had slowly been questioning what exactly was causing her to tense up at the thought of Weiss, how she felt uneasy when it was just him and Nomida, and all sorts of things that would indicate a girl in love. However, it wasn't love, that much Reinhardt was certain. They had only known each other for a small amount of time, relatively speaking.

During her time back in her 'normal' school, she was known for being a bit of a cool beauty. She had been… a bit popular at school. Or perhaps 'famous' was more like it. Her 'cool beauty' aspect, brought about by her slight stoicism, had driven many boys to try to make her laugh. She did in fact, have plenty she could call friends, but ultimately she never developed many deep relationships due to her desire to get into IS Academy. And that meant every girl at school was a potential rival. She herself hadn't tried to isolate herself, but they certainly isolated her. Despite this, though, she persisted, and achieved her goal.

But… she did feel slightly lonely. When she originally came, she suddenly found herself missing those carefree days. Being around mostly men in her life and admiring the strength of her father and brothers, it slightly bothered her being at a fully female school. Save for two, one of which had become a massive influence in her life.

Yes, it wasn't love. But it was a more intimate relationship with any other boy she had ever known. And so, she was confused. She was… well aware of relationships, having seen them all the time in school. Plus, the girls here always talked about them. Part of her wondered if… she even wanted to pursue something like that with Weiss.

"Ha…"

She let out a small, self-deprecating chuckle at herself. The irony—the once cool beauty now wondering about the 'ice king'. But in the end, she had clutched it. A chance to confirm for herself what the feelings in her heart were. If she could go on tomorrow's outing and feel nothing more than the usual tension she felt when they were alone on the battlefield, it meant that she simply was afraid of losing his instruction and friendship. A completely natural worry for her to have, as someone who didn't have many friends coming in, and someone who originally didn't have any friends at the Academy when she arrived. Her tensing up when she thought of Weiss was simply nothing more than a worry that he'd be gone. Him being alone with Nomida and that worrying her was nothing more than a fear in her heart that he'd one day arrive and say 'Nomida's ahead of you now'. She didn't of course, want to compete that much with the girl, but there was certainly a pride within her that knew she was a cut above the normal girl here. She shouldn't worry so much that someone trained by _Weiss_ of all people suddenly caught up to her, but it still made her anxious.

But…

If she went on that outing with Weiss tomorrow and she found herself worrying far more than the usual—if her heart jumped more than when she would spar with him, if the nervousness in her hands _didn't_ match the one when she aimed down with a sniper rifle with his trainer's eyes on her…

...then certainly, she could admit that maybe she had a thing for Weiss.

* * *

"Father."

" _Charlotte."_

"It's good to hear your voice again." The French "boy" said, sure that no one could hear "him". Orimura Ichika had left the room a while ago, already having discovered her "secret" a few days ago, and tonight Charlotte had asked for some privacy. It was as simple as simply implying something about her period and pretending to be embarrassed about it, and the boy had quickly departed. As for any bugs, she had already swept the room the first day she arrived.

" _Likewise."_

"I still must voice my disagreement of your plan, Father."

" _It's the only way, Charlotte."_

"But Father, this will ruin the compan—no, it will ruin only you! The company can continue to stay afloat, but if we go through with this, then…!"

" _I know, Charlotte. But Hidden Hand needs me."_

"You're too old, Father. You've been off the battlefield for too long, and—"

" _But it's something that I must do, Charlotte. Phantom Task is on the move. From the seat of CEO, I can only do so much. And ultimately, I was a better pilot than I ever was a corporate officer."_

"What would Mother say?"

" _...I don't know, but I imagine that she wouldn't want me going back into the AC. But it has to be done, Charlotte. For the sake of the world."_

"That's such a vague idea, Father. Do you even know what you're about to do all of this for? We can still stop now!"

" _I don't know what Phantom Task's goals are specifically, but they've always been about seizing political power on the world stage as far as I can remember with my time. Things might have gotten worse over time. Now that they have a superweapon that is controlled by governments… I wonder just what would happen if they were to ever fully sink their claws in."_

"Father, that's…"

" _I suppose you could say then, Charlotte, that I am going to fight so we can one day, have another argument over the phone like this. I would say I disapprove of the boy that you're seeing, you would accuse me of spying on you, to which I would vehemently deny it, and so forth. Right now, the world can still be like that. But with Phantom Task in the background, I simply don't know. We simply don't know what they intend to do, but simply that they are mobilizing with a figure at the helm. And so I must be ready to fight."_

"They beat 4034. The ace. How can you ever hope to win?"

" _I won't be alone. That was 4034's mistake that day."_

"...right."

" _It seems our time is just about up, though. Good luck in your upcoming fight."_

"...Thank you, Father."

" _This is the last time we're going to speak like this in a long time, so…"_

"So?"

" _I love you, Charlotte."_

"I love you too, Father."

" _Good night."_

"Good night."

And with that, the line cut dead. Charlotte got up from the bed and used Partial Deployment, giving herself her bracer with a hidden pile driver in it. She loaded the phone up on the desk very precisely, and destroyed it with her weapon before dismissing her unit.

She took a few deep breaths, calming herself down. Everything had to go along with the plan.

Even if that meant throwing her own father to the wolves.

* * *

 **So, you guys wanted to know more about the state of the world, and so I tried to write a chapter detailing it.**

 **First was just some notes about Hidden Hand, along with an increasing amount of pressure on them. The second scene was with Squall Meusel, who I originally wanted to keep off-screen for longer, but since there was a lot of confusion about why the AC was replaced, I decided to put this scene in. Essentially, yes, it was a targeted campaign by her and her group in order to force the AC out of the picture through shame and societal changes. I know it's a bit cartoonish to make Phantom Task have such reach, but it seemed fine enough.**

 **I also thought it was a good chance to characterize her in this story. Rather than show up at the very end, her motivations, goals, convictions, along with her conflict are very much laid out. Standards and lines are drawn for what she does and does not like. It wasn't a full attempt to play the sympathy card, but more of an attempt to showcase what kind of person she is and the lengths she'll go to. Meusel is a woman who will dismantle society's balance, manipulate movements she herself doesn't agree with, and tempt politicians with more power, yet still maintains a dislike for the viewpoints those movements have. Still clearly someone who's dangerous and needs to be dealt with, though.**

 **The next part was just a bit on Nomida's development, some doubts on Kazuma's part, and Reinhardt's dynamic with him being called into question. I didn't want Reinhardt to go full "I'm in love!", so I thought it might be interesting to give her some doubts. She isn't completely sure of her own feelings and needs to sort them out. Though for me, the more interesting part was Weiss' doubts, wherein he wonders if by finding reasons to fight, he weakens himself compared to when he was just fighting to keep Mei alive. It also ties back into the reason he was originally sent to IS Academy, where he was supposed to blend in and forget Hidden Hand. Rather than purposely trying to accomplish that, just by having relationships with others, it slowly gets to him, and now for someone who's known Hidden Hand for most of his life, he doesn't know what it entails. I thought it was a good doubt to give him, and one that can be brought up soon.**

 **The last little bit is more of a stinger and a recontextualization of the Dunois situation. It does kind of excite/amuse me to have this whole like, "clash of secret organizations" mounting in the background of the shenanigans of IS Academy, ready to blow over at any time. Really, this entire setting is a ticking time bomb, haha.**

 **Anyways, I hope you enjoyed it. I'll try to be a little more punctual with chapters in 2019. Seeya all then!**


	15. Well-Oiled Machine

**Chapter 15:** Well-Oiled Machine

* * *

"Got a date?"

"It's not a date."

"You've got a button shirt."

"Not a date." I say, reaching over and grabbing my tie. "And shut up about the tie, I already know what you're going to say."

"Give Reinhardt a kiss, okay?"

I shut Cayden up by throwing a pillow at her, though it only makes her laugh harder. It's not really a date, or at least, Reinhardt never specified in the terminology she used to ask me to come out with her today. All I know is she asked me to meet with her at one of the small bench-park areas on the island and that I could dress casual. Since we weren't going to class, there wasn't a need to wear it, anyways.

Either way, it couldn't be a date, anyways. Reinhardt and I are simply friends and hasn't expressed any signs she intends to change that, nor would I be inclined to entertain her with such a notion. And she knows that too. We're friends, comrades, and have each other's backs. That's all there is to our relationship.

"It's a bit hot out, isn't it?" Cayden asks I evaluate putting on my jacket, eventually deciding to throw it on the bed. "Less for her to take off, right?"

"I'm leaving."

"Awwww."

Cayden just laughs as I leave, eventually heading out towards one of the small park-like areas. Nothing major, just an area where there's tables near some rails that face the ocean. To my surprise, Reinhardt is in rather, might I say, feminine attire, dressed in a light blue sunskirt. On the table is a small package of… something, wrapped in a handkerchief.

"Reinhardt."

She jolts up, then takes a second to collect herself as I roll over to her.

"Kazuma, hello."

"Ah, wait, you wanted me to call you Ursula. My apologies." I say, making the crossing and stopping next to her, facing the ocean.

"Yes… well, thank you for coming out today. It was a bit of a strange request, coming from me."

"I suppose it was. I hope you haven't eaten."

"A bit too early for lunch, I think."

"A bit, yes."

The silence sets in after that. Reinhardt seems rather on edge today, as she's fidgeting madly, as if she was waiting for a mark and this was her first time being deployed as an operative.

"Ursula."

"Y-yes?!"

"What's wrong?" I ask, not bothering to ask if anything's wrong. I know something's off, anyways. "It's not like to be like this. Or ask me on something like this, either."

She lets out a low whine as she slumps on the table. Her voice is muffled, but I can make out the words: "Nothing gets by you, does it?"

"I'm your Operator, after all. I have to make sure you're at your best. And that means being able to see when you're not at tip top shape." I say, putting a hand on your shoulder.

"Is that all…?"

I blink, not having expecting a question like that from Reinhardt at all. That sounds more like someone asking for more, er, they're asking for a 'greater' answer. It's like asking "Only a good job?" when said you did a good job. Hmm… But… I suppose it's not all. Though it's not like I can just tell her that she's someone who I might like to live as well. But, I can tell her—

"And it is because I am your friend."

"Ah…"

"You seem a little disappointed with that answer."

"No, it's just…" She then laughs, seemingly at herself, as she sits up straight. "I didn't expect you to be so straightforward."

"I have no reason to beat around the bush with you, Ursula, especially in what I think about you."

"You wouldn't be you otherwise, would you?"

I snort at this, rolling my eyes.

"I'm glad to know you understand me so well." I say dryly, with Reinhardt laughing. It seems that she's in a better mood, now.

"You're my Operator, after all. I have to know what you're going to recommend, so I can tell you if I don't think it's the right option."

"Glad to know you're learning fast. Can I ask what's with the whole picnic and sundress get up?"

"Er, that's… a personal matter."

"Understood. I won't question it, then."

I see her breathe a visible sigh of relief at this, though her cheeks are still rosy red. Reinhardt likely isn't used to such attire, I think, or at least she's evidently unused to wearing it.

"Hey, Weiss."

I turn my head towards Reinhardt as she looks out to the sea.

"What is it, Ursula?"

"I don't think I ever properly thanked you. For everything."

"You don't need to. I was the one who put you through my training, after all. If I didn't have my heart in it, I wouldn't have done it."

"But I was the one who asked you to help me get better. It wasn't entirely on you. So thank you."

"Is this what all of this was for?" I ask, trying to read her reaction afterwards.

She replies "Yes" a little too hastily for my liking. Reinhardt does seem aware of this though and elects to turn her head away so she isn't looking at me.

"I see. Well, I'll accept your thanks."

The silence sets in for a little while longer this time around. Reinhardt breaks it again, after roughly seventy three seconds.

"Hey, Weiss?"

"Ursula?"

"I… er, I, sorry. I'm just not sure how to say this."

"Are you worried about Nomida surpassing you?"

"That's not all, but um, yes, that is a bit of a concern. Was I that obvious?"

"It's about the closest thing I could peg. You're used to being at the top, so it must concern you when Nomida makes these sudden strides. I think it would suffice to say that at the beginning of the year we both would have wondered how Nomida would've made it through three years, yet here we are. It's something I've dealt with as well."

I can see Reinhardt smile, so I'm guessing it's not the full picture.

"It's fine to be surpassed. Don't let it get you down. It doesn't mean you're bad. It just means you have to work harder. That's something I want to drill into you now. Besides, if it's any solace, you'll at least survive not being the best."

I can see Reinhardt frown a bit as she turns her head towards me. We're both knowable about the world of the AC. If you're not the better one the day you enter the battlefield, you don't get to just have your shields go kaput and that's it. You die. Plain and simple.

"But that's enough about my gripes. I've learned that lesson, and it's one you need to know now."

"Mhm. Then, if I'm ever feeling unsure, I can come to you, yes?"

"I trust that won't be too frequently, though."

"It's likely that's the case, but maybe just on a really bad day."

"I don't have a problem with that. No better teacher than me, I suppose."

She seems content to leave it at that, giving me a nod as she turns back to the napkin-wrap on the table.

"Ah, though, we co—"

My phone buzzes as she starts unwrapping the small package. It's Mei, and I also notice a text from the school.

"Cayden."

" _Kazuma-kun."_

"Sensei?"

" _Fastest way to get a hold of you. Where are you now?"_

"Out in a plaza."

" _Can you get to Arena Two?"_

I switch the phone to speaker so Reinhardt can hear it.

"I can get to Arena Two. Need anyone else?"

" _Is anyone with you?"_

"Ur—Reinhardt is here with me."

" _Good. Bring her here as well."_

"What's going on?"

" _We have a situation. I'll brief you when you get to Bay Three."_

* * *

 _ **Armored Hearts**_

* * *

"Let's move."

Reinhardt nodded, immediately beginning to push him. While she wasn't happy there was another situation, she was glad that something had taken the attention away from her for a bit. She wasn't at all used to this and hadn't the foggiest clue about how to treat Weiss in a more, in her mind, feminine manner.

But, the one thing she was sure about was that…

 _Well, Weiss… I suppose it's not entirely just a worry about being surpassed by Nomida. That whole time, I couldn't stop my heart from being nervous._

 _It definitely isn't love or anything like that, but… it's definitely not just being a friend. Please let me figure this out a little more clearly, okay?_

* * *

 _ **Armored Hearts**_

* * *

Thanks to our teacher, we're able to reach Arena Two, Bay Three, without any issue.

"Good work, both of—Reinhardt, what are you wearing?"

"Please don't mention it, Yumemi-sensei. What's the situation?" Reinhardt says while all of the other girls that form our "group" (strangely enough, gathered here), are whispering to themselves.

"Long story short, Bodewig's gone out of control. It seems she's got some strange weapon and the school went into lockdown." She replies while pulling up footage on the screen.

"Looks a lot like Orimura Chifuyu, except without the coloration." I say, observing the grey statue (honestly the best way to put it), continue its fierce assault on Orimura Ichika and Dunois Charles. Shinonono Houki is also present on the field, but I notice she's out of the fight, likely unable to make a retreat. Or perhaps they're not taking the risk of opening up the shields in case this thing breaks through.

" _The Valkyrie Trace System. It was meant to mimic previous winners of the Mondo Grosso."_

"Orimura-sensei?" I call out back as a voice comes over the speakers.

" _The teachers have been called to handle this, but it seems my brother wants to break the rules… again. Your 'team' has a bit of a habit of playing hard and fast with how things are done around here."_

"Thanks for the compliment."

" _Enough backsassing. However, we need you to extract Shinonono Houki from the arena. She's currently out of shields and we don't know whether or not Bodewig's system will target her. Additionally, Orimura is running low on a shields. We think the best way to end the battle is to force Bodewig's unit to exhaust its energy—"_

"So you need us to refuel him." I say, gesturing for the other girls to get down into the hangar bay. "Awful lot of trust you're putting in us. I'm even able to access the controls right now."

" _I'd prefer not to have to do this, but as I understand it, you have a link to Bodewig. I figured if there was anyone who wanted to help her out, it would be you, seeing as how she hasn't done herself any favors."_

"Hoo-rah to that. Mission received, Orimura-sensei. Any other requests?" I ask as I put on the headset, now hearing Orimura's voice through it.

" _None so far."_

"Glad to know you trust us, although I'd like to file a complaint with the school after this. Everyone, we're forgoing callsigns for now! Cayden, you're on extraction duty! Get Shinonono to safety, that's your priority. Nomida, I want you providing backup to Orimura, and Reinhardt, I need you to get ready for shield transfer."

" _I'm on shield transfer duty?"_

"You're going to be the furthest out and I doubt this thing's going to require sniper support. The objective is to give Orimura shields, you're the one who's going to need them the least."

I can feel Reinhardt's hesitation in the silence that follows. She doesn't want to be left out of this, but this is the logical step.

"We really need to get battery packs for these things, you know?" Stoneson says as she sits next to me. "Would make recharging on the field a lot easier."

"Tell me about it. Reinhardt, you suited up? Wait, no, stupid question, but I could swear we don't usually stock the tightsuits here—"

" _I've had to improvise due to the lack of tightsuit available. Bit chilly but I'll live."_

"Oh good God." I mutter, feeling the hole in the back of my head being burned in by Yumemi right now. "Right. Keep your wits about you. Phase one is to extract Shinonono, we'll move into Phase Two after confirmed extraction. Stoneson, Lisarene, back me up here. I'll be directing Cayden, you two provide support for the others. Stoneson, you're helping out Nomida, Lisarene, back up Reinhardt! All pilots from here, switch to encrypted channel six. Got that, Orimura-sensei?"

" _Understood."_

"Got i—! Wait, what?!" Stoneson yells, clearly not expecting to be put on support for our frontliner.

"You heard me! Put what you've learned to use!"

"R-right!"

"Will do, will do. Reinhardt, this is Lisarene, how copy—"

"This is Kazuma Weiss, broadcasting on a public channel. Orimura Ichika, Dunois Charles, Shinonono Houki, come in, I repeat, come in. If you can hear me, contact your operators, they will place you on an encrypted channel with us." I say, waiting for the feedback.

" _Kazuma-san?"_ I hear after a few seconds, noting on my display that seemed to come from Shinonono.

"The one and only. We're coming in hot, hold your position. All pilots, get ready for takeoff. Shinonono, we're coming to extract you. Stay safe, Cayden will escort you out. How copy, over?"

" _Understood. Please, hurry."_

I look down the room and see Yumemi having moved to the manual override. I guess they aren't ready to directly circuit that to the controls just yet.

"Deploying in five, four, three, two, one, mission start! Open the hatch!"

The manual override goes into effect, with Stoneston shouting out the arena shields going down over in our sector as the doors come up. All three of our pilots duck underneath the door and head out, with Yumemi closing it afterwards and retreating back to the safety of the operating booth.

"Pretty sad you aren't out there, sensei." I say, watching the cameras.

"I need to be able to input my credentials if you need any further access. If it wasn't the case for that, I'd be swinging out there. Also, fifty pushups."

"Understood. Cayden, do you have a visual on Shinonono?"

" _I see her. I'm coming, Shinonono-san!"_

" _Nomida-san, move into support Orimura-san! I'll try to keep up with her! Orimura-san, please conserve your shield points until we can refuel you!"_

"Shinonono, once she's within five meters of you, begin moving over to Bay Three on my mark, we will extract you from there."

" _Understood."_

"Step on it, Cayden!"

" _I'm going, I'm going!"_

" _This is Reinhardt, providing sniper support. I don't think I can land a critical hit, but I should be able to stagger her."_

" _Ah, thank you, Reinhardt-san!"_ I hear Dunois call out. _"Can you let us know when you're firing? If you can stun her, then Nomida-san can make the exchange so Orimura can recharge."_

" _Understood. Let me know when to take the shot."_

" _I've reached Shinonono, bringing her back home."_

"Let's time it all together. Dunois, call the shot, and Nomida, move in and take point. While the enemy is stunned, begin extraction. Those key milliseconds could make all the difference. Flash acknowledgement."

All acknowledgement signals flash across my screen.

" _Dunois, on your mark."_

" _Five seconds! ...three, two, one, mark!"_

Reinhardt's shot goes off, exploding right on the iron statue that apparently encases Bodewig. It manages to stagger her enough to where Orimura can take about a five foot step back and Nomida comes in swinging, delivering an attempt at decapitation, though the blow is blocked and the two begin a duel. At the same time, Shinonono and Cayden immediately begin moving.

" _We not refueling Orimura right now?"_ Lisarene asks as Cayden and Shinonono begin their approach.

"I want to put as much of a wall between Orimura and Bodewig while this all goes down. That means putting Cayden in as well." I say as Yumemi runs down to pull the manual override.

" _Understood. Reinhardt, continue firing at will. Make it easier on Nomida, at least."_

" _Copy that. Sniper fire, engaging."_

It must look like a grand symphony going on from the stands. Like a well oiled machine, these girls move. But that's because I've drilled it into them how to treat everything like a normal, live operation. I can see it when I glance at Stoneson to make sure everything's okay. She's nervous, but she's not falling apart. She knows her friends are on the line. Nomida's fighting effectively what I believe to be an advanced training simulation likely using data from Orimura Chifuyu and while she's not winning, she's _holding her ground._ Reinhardt is also calm as well, continuing to provide support, those worries of her being surpassed left behind.

And more importantly, it's that I've worked all these girls together around this idea. Because of that, they're operating not as three pilots and three operators, but as a single fighting force.

Soon enough, Cayden brings Shinonono back inside and runs off immediately for the edge of the launching platform, taking off and joining the fray.

" _This is Cayden, Shinonono has been successfully extracted! I'm joining the fight!"_

"Copy that, Cayden. Reinhardt, move in behind her! Orimura, on my mark, I need you to link up with Reinhardt and begin the recharge! Cayden, Nomida, they're going to be very vulnerable while this happens. _Hold the line._ "

" _Hoo-rah!"_

" _I will."_

The rather icy and convicted response from Reinhardt catches my other two Operators off guard, with both of them giving me a glance.

"Reinhardt, tell me when you've got the shield transfer equipment ready."

" _Should I dump all power?"_

" _She'll be unshielded out there and too close to the chaos if she does!"_ Orimura yells out. _"Fifty percent, fifty percent!"_

"How much do you trust in your ability to self-extract, over?"

" _I don't need that much, just enough for one more strike!"_

" _You'll need more than that, Orimura-san. Ninety five percent. Should give me enough for extraction."_

"Copy that. Nomida, Cayden, you heard her. Ensure it happens."

" _Sorry, Orimura-san. But we need to ensure victory. Don't worry. I won't die here."_

" _S… scary…"_

Cayden moves in with a hail of sweeping fire, getting the attention off of Nomida before tackling the goddamn thing, sending both of them carting over. I see Reinhardt dock on the ground and begin popping out the cable.

" _Orimura, I'm four meters behind you. Quickly!"_

"All other pilots, move in to engage Bodewig!"

" _Calm down, Orimura. They'll handle it."_ I hear Reinhardt say, noticing on the camera feed that Orimura seems to be a bit nervous and is fumbling with the cable. It takes a few precious seconds, but he finally plugs it into his IS. _"Confirmed power transfer in process. One percent and climbing."_

" _Only give half!"_

" _Negative on that. Five percent transferred."_

" _Look out!"_

" _Reinhardt, watch out!"_

However, the warning aren't needed as Nomida, who was cast off from the side as Bodewig recovered, swoops into a crashing dive, sidelining the iron statue in the middle of its charge. She transitions flawlessly into a series of sword attacks that capitalize on the stunned target, buying more time.

" _Thirteen percent and climbing."_

" _Can't this thing transfer any faster?!"_

" _It's a lot of power."_

Orimura doesn't seem completely off his rocker yet, but he is clearly stressed at everything, likely because it doesn't involve just him. Reinhardt likely is too, but she's at least keeping her cool about it.

" _Nomida, shield report."_

" _Sixty three percent. I can hold her."_

"Cayden?"

" _Eight four for now."_

" _I'm hanging around thirty seven, Kazuma-san."_

"Thanks for the update, Dunois. Just keep Bodewig off of her for now." I say, feeling my hands curl up. Nervousness…? No, not that. It's that I'm realizing my own words. That this is a live battleground, now, and I've been training these girls to fight like it all the time.

I've always fought with my life on the line. But this is the first time I've had anyone I've trained myself fighting out there. And more importantly, _I'm_ not out there. I'd feel more secure if I was. If I was the one with a weapon in hand. I'd be able to push through and win. Just as expected.

But this is an entirely different experience. The most I can do is support.

Is this how you felt, Weiss?

I can feel my resolve shoot back up as I see Nomida continue to hammer blow into blow against Bodewig. Without AIC, she's become far more effective, almost to the point where Cayden is just taking hits so Nomida can get her positioning into better place.

" _Thirty four percent and climbing."_

"Nomida, don't exhaust yourself. Pace yourself."

" _Understood."_

She does seem to be getting more emotional than usual. It might be what she told me about. That her mother wanted to compete with the Orimuras. In the end, this isn't just about surviving and completing the mission. This is a chance Nomida won't get in a while. To fight the closest she'll ever get to probably fighting Orimura Chifuyu. But this time it's on her own terms.

So I can understand it. This is going to be her victory. And her victory alone.

"Nomida, your heart rate's shooting up too high." I say, taking a look at her vitals. She's clearly overexerting herself and might be getting tired soon. "Cayden, Dunois, even if it's risky, cover for her, just a tiny while. Nomida, thirty seconds to cool down, you've got hold out, not defeat her here."

" _Got it, Kazuma!"_

" _Right. Nomida-san, please don't go too far."_

Stoneston gives me a look of thanks, as it seems she was unsure how to word it. I notice a small message on my screen.

" _She seems to listen to you, hm?"_

I decide to ignore Stoneson's message and continue focusing on the battleground.

"Reinhardt, report."

" _Forty nine and climbing. We're just over halfway."_

"Copy that."

I note that Cayden and Dunois, despite clearly having hand to hand experience, struggle more than Nomida did. It's likely due to the sword, as Bodewig's statue-esque form has much more reach compared to their knives, as the best way to keep it preoccupied is to engage in melee rather than shoot, where it will blow past them otherwise. I have to say its replication of technique is impressive, though. I'd certainly believe that Orimura Chifuyu had taken the field to show a bunch of students that a five on one advantage meant nothing, as it doesn't seem to portray any struggle against them.

" _Sixty and climbing."_

" _Can't hold it much longer, Kazuma!"_

"Nomida, relieve them. Cayden, Dunois, continue to take hits for her as needed."

" _Got it!"_

" _Seeeeeiyah!"_

"Excuse me!" I lean back in the chair for a second and see Shinonono, who apparently just got out of her IS, standing in the doorway. "Sorry I took so long, but the docks here are for specific units, I had to manually de-suit and climb out."

"Cut to the point."

"I can guide Nomida in fighting that thing. If there's anyone who understands what it's capable of in swordplay, it's me."

I glance around, with Lisarene nodding.

" _This is Lisarene, I'm switching places with Shinonono."_

"Copy that. Nomida, Shinonono will take over as your new Operator. Stoneson, provide watch for Cayden and Dunois."

" _Got it!"_

I see Shinonono log in and put on her headset, Lisarene's name on the display replaced with hers.

" _Nomida-san, can you hear me?"_

" _I can, Shinonono-san."_

" _I'm tapping into your display cameras. I'll switch to a direct comm channel so the others aren't distracted."_

" _Mhm. Will do, as well!"_

"Got it, the two of you. Keep Bodewig off Orimura. Reinhardt?"

" _Seven two and climbi—"_

" _REINHARDT!"_

All of us turn towards the screen as Nomida was knocked away for a brief moment, likely when she was taking the time to change her comms, with Bodewig's unit closing the distance.

I heard Reinhardt yell over the radio as she's tossed away, but her shields take minimal damage. However, due to the fact she was already giving up her shields, she's still fairly low.

" _Orimura, Reinhardt, report!"_

" _I'm fine, Kazuma. Twenty three percent. Shield transfer cable is busted, though."_

" _I have a few more attacks, now. We can save her!"_

"Got it. Shinonono, guide Orimura and Nomida. Everyone else, do what you can to provide support. But most importantly, everyone make it back home. Let's go!"

* * *

 _ **Armored Hearts**_

* * *

 _Ah… I'm disappearing._ Bodewig thought as she sank into the mental depths, slowly consumed by Valkyrie Trace. The greatest equalizer, her greatest power, and ironically the reason she had nearly been discarded.

Created to be a soldier. Raised from birth to kill. The best there was. Black Alice. The star.

But one day the IS was introduced.

Germany, in an attempt to get ahead, introduced the Valkyrie Trace System into her. But it ended up weakening her as a result. She fell behind, no longer the shining star operative she was.

She slowly clawed her way back to the top, with the help of her precious Instructor. Weaknesses would not be tolerated. And along the way, she had even met her counterpart from a sister organization, Noble Core.

She thought back to Kazuma Weiss, codename Noble Core. While she didn't know for sure, she had her suspicions that he was indeed the current iteration of Hidden Hand's legendary 4034. She had read up on the previous ones as well, with what little she could find out.

When they had first met, he was everything she thought he would be. Bearing a resemblance in personality to her instructor, too. Yet, even he had weakness, as he had shown her in the past few weeks.

"— _wig!_ "

A place to return to. People waiting for you to return home.

Bodewig, Chifuyu, and Noble Core all had these things.

A place to lovingly call home. A place where wishes were made. A place where dreams came true. A bond not forged in the head of combat, but in the mundane struggles of the day to day.

Orimura Chifuyu and now Noble Core had these things.

A person to keep out of harm's way. Something to cherish. Something that went beyond loyalty, beyond squadmates. Something you'd set fire to the world over.

Orimura Chifuyu and Noble Core had these things.

These were things Bodewig had thought of as weakness.

" _Bo_ — _wig!_ "

But in that brief moment she saw what she once deemed as weakness was what gave her two guides strength.

A brother, a sister in arms, each of these people she had seen as strong had this "weakness", a weight that dragged them down. At that moment, Bodewig Laura realized that it was only because of this chink in their armor that they could become a monster on the battlefield.

A legendary pilot who thought fondly of her rather foolish brother, cutting down all who'd come after him, and throwing away glory for him. A legendary operative—and likely pilot—who would slaughter a base and take hundreds of lives to keep his precious partner safe.

She wanted to be like them. And yet all this time she could not have been any more different. What could she call "precious"? What would she betray everything for? Even that unsure swordswoman she faced a few days ago felt more similar to Noble Core—in her eyes had burned a fierce determination, there was something that swordswoman wanted to grasp. Enough that she felt like that despite the skill gap between them, she would do all that it took to strike Bodewig down.

 _It's cold._

"— _dewig!_ "

Ah, so this was the price of the Valkyrie Trace System. She wanted to become the strongest there was, without having anything to call precious.. What could that be called, perhaps?

 _A monster._

But even in fantasy tales, dragons had things to fight for. Devils who forsook evil because of some self-imposed creed. Even they had things to hold above strength and power.

 _I wonder… will I see them… again…?_

" _Bodewig!"_

 _Noble Core…? No, this voice…!_

" _Fire!"_

She strained to regain control over the Valkyrie Trace System, glimpsing the outside again. Orimura Ichika rolled out of the way of her sword, which was then held down by the swordswoman she had fought earlier. But her physical strength wasn't enough, and she was sent rolling away.

But the swordswoman rose to her feet, grit her teeth, and got up. An explosion rang out, giving the swordswoman time to take a step back and get into a guard. Based on the sound profile and who was on the battlefield, it was likely that sniper from the other day. The ones she had called weak—

The swordswoman gave another cry as she took another blow from the Valkyrie Trace System. Bodewig knew how this would end. But with a loud roar, the swordswoman began to push her back. Slowly, the Valkyrie Trace System was losing the blade lock.

" _Bode… wig!"_

A flash of blue. From behind the swordswoman. Orimura Ichika had arrived, wielding that familiar azure blade. She noticed that the system was shutting down, having drawn power from the rest of the system in order to prevent damage to the pilot, even with her shields depleted.

 _It's… warm…?_

Was it that the was sun shining down on her now? Or was it the fact that she was being caught from the air as her unit disappeared. Or was it the fact that she hadn't been terminated?

She continued to wonder as she sank into Orimura's arms.

"Kazuma-san, I've got her."

" _Copy that."_

Bodewig heard Noble Core's voice over the radio and she strained to keep consciousness as she felt exhaustion overtaking her.

" _Advising all inbound teacher units, enemy is neutralized, I repeat, enemy is neutralized. Send in the medical team, and as for Bodewig—"_

* * *

 _ **Armored Hearts**_

* * *

"Welcome back to the world of the living."

Bodewig groans from her bed as I see her eyes flutter open.

"It is currently nineteen hundred hours."

"Mgh…"

"Feeling like shit?"

"Ob… viously…" she mutters as she sits up in her bed.

"Well, be glad you didn't suffer any major injuries. Whatever that thing was seemed to induce exhaustion, based on what the medical staff told me. Be glad it's me here as well. Orimura—the sister—would be here, but I convinced her to let me be here. Telling her to check up on her brother helped."

"I see…"

"Something on your mind?"

"I am… confused."

"What about?"

"A lot of things, Kazuma. But… I think I've been wrong."

"You're opening up surprisingly fast."

"I had an epiphany on the battlefield. About Cayden, I apol—"

"Save it for later." I say, closing my eyes. "Don't be so hasty."

"...yes. Kazuma, I have a question. One you might know the answer to."

I open my eyes, finding Bodewig looking at me with a very, very concerned look on her face. Perhaps it is tied to the epiphany she says she had on the battlefield. "I can't be sure of my ability to answer, but go ahead."

"Is it okay for people like you and I to… have a place to call home? To open ourselves up like that?"

I close my eyes again and sigh. Of course it'd have to be a difficult question like that.

"I don't know." I say, shaking my head. "I can't answer that question, Bodewig. That's something even I don't know."

"But—"

"I'm still sorting it out myself. People like you and I, knowing the world we come from, asking ourselves when we're in a place like this if that's okay… I'm still stumbling around, too."

"I see. That's a bit unfortunate."

"I suppose it is. I also suppose that you'll be trying to learn your answer to that question?"

"Mhm." I see her nod as she talks. "Perhaps we should talk again, in the future, and see what we both think down the line."

"I can agree to that." I say before turning myself towards the door. "It seems like we both have a lot to learn, anyways."

I hear Bodewig chuckle at this. "I suppose that in that regard, we can both learn something from Orimura, can't we?"

I snort at this. "I hope that was in jest."

"Well, only partially. I have no intent to doggedly pursue him, but there isn't anyone who would know quite as well what it's like, having… a chink in your armor like that. I'd stay around you normally, but…"

"But?"

"It seems that you have a certain group dynamic. I wouldn't want to intrude on that."

"I don't know, I think Reinhardt might be pretty accommodating for you."

Bodewig shoots me a bit of an incredulous look, as if I missed something obvious. If it's anything to do with their attraction to me, I can say that…

...well, never mind.

"I see. Well, not to be rude, but…"

I get what she's asking for and nod.

"You have a lot to think about, so I'll leave for now. It seems you're okay, anyways. We'll talk more when you're back to normal."

"I see." Bodewig says as I roll away from her bed. "Kazuma, thank you."

"It wasn't me who saved you." I say, making my way to the door. "Loathe as I am to admit it, you can credit Orimura for that one."

"I heard you helping."

"It was an order. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to go likely get lectured, along with Orimura-sensei, considering how she played a little hard and fast with the rules here. You can thank her later, for pulling your ass out of the fire."

Without another word, I leave the medical room and close the door behind me.

"How is she?"

"She's fine, Orimura-san." I say, the boy beginning to follow me down the hall. "Shaken, not injured. Might have a different look on things."

I hear him breathe a sigh of relief.

"Good job. Thank you for bringing Bodewig home."

"You two know each other?"

"In passing."

Perhaps I was wrong about you, Orimura. You're a civilian through and through, but you've shown that you've got some steel in you. Not quite as much as Nomida, though.

"Why'd you do it, though?"

"Hm?"

"Why did you come out and help me?"

"You can ask your sister about that. It seems that I'm a little well known for breaking the rules." I say offhandedly, waving a hand. "A bit of a bad reputation, really. I got the order, and well, here we are."

"It's okay to admit that you care a little bit about Bodewig." He says back with a smile that I find myself feeling disgusted at. "It's not like you had to follow it."

"I suppose we'll never find out what would happen if I didn't obey it, then."

"You're not as bad as you try to make yourself out to be, Kazuma-san." He says, walking out ahead of me. I immediately bring myself to a stop to avoid crashing into him. "You're a bit like my sister in a way."

He puts out a hand.

"Do you think we could start over?"

I decide not to take it and roll around him.

"You're far too forward. Stop automatically assuming I'm a good person. You're right that I had some goodwill towards Bodewig in order to be willing to put my companions on the line to save her. But I doubt you'd say the same thing about all of this had I taken _different_ action had it been a different student."

I let him play it out in his imagination. What would he be saying now, if it had been a different student, and I refused to help? Or perhaps I had followed an order to terminate?

"My sister would never give such an order." He says back almost immediately.

"I suppose so." I say, continuing to roll away, seeing Yumemi come into view. "If you'll excuse me, it seems like I have someone to report to. It's gonna be a long night..."

What complete idiocy, thinking that I'll change just like that...

"Ah, Kazuma— _san._ " Reinhardt says, quickly appending the honorific, although the rest of the girls around her clearly catch onto it. "I guess we're all writing our reports together."

"I see. Well, lead the way." I say, with Reinhardt being the one to push me along.

But… maybe I won't ever reach the point of being so soft that I'll just casually become friends with Orimura. After all, for someone like me, I don't have that choice. There's just too much in the background, where I know I couldn't let myself sink so low. Perhaps that is why I continually shove him away, for better not to deal with the temptation. But for now, I think… it's okay to have this much, at least. Something beyond just Mei as a reason to keep fighting.

"So, what about dinner?" Mei asks as we walk along, being escorted to a classroom.

"Well, if we're allowed, can we go to the mainland later, Yumemi-sensei?" Reinhardt asks as a follow up.

"Seeing as how you won't be under questioning for this one, I don't think it should be a problem."

"Awesome! Weiss' treat!"

"Can it, Cayden!" I grumble, with all of the other girls having a laugh at it.

As Mei continues to (joking) beg for a handout, my mind feels somewhat at ease. Perhaps I won't know true peace, but in this moment of downtime, when the battle was won, and we can rest for a bit… maybe I can allow myself just this moment to relax. In a place I can think of as home.

* * *

 **Wew okay, so we are done with Bodewig's arc! I think it was okay for her not to fully join Weiss' group, as I know some people didn't want to see her go with Orimura. I thought it best just to downplay Bodewig's attachment, and also justify why she'd stay near Orimura. Rather than a crazy affection, it's because Bodewig wants to learn something from him that she can't learn from Weiss.**

 **I also hope the battle was to your liking. I tried something new, where I wanted the battle to be carried as much as it could be by the dialogue. Rarely were there points that it was explicitly described what Weiss saw on the screens; I wanted to see if I could paint the picture of what was going on with just the communications. A bit of a challenge for myself.**

 **Reinhardt's beginning at this chapter was a bit awkward to write, which I think carried over from the awkward situation. Like I said before, I wanted to make it that she was still unsure of what she felt, which to me feels better than just having her all-in like the girls for Ichika.**

 **Also trying out a new way of organizing these author notes, so I'll be doing review replies here instead.**

 **Siphon 117:** Trust me, I've had to put so much restraint on myself to stop a situation like that until it would be appropriate. To me, I still think the AC would dominate the IS, and so holding back on it has been the toughest part of writing this story lol. But trust me when I say there _is_ a planned AC vs IS battle soon. If you know the regular story of IS, then you know what's coming up. As for OCs, I have everything I need planned out, so I'm not accepting them. Either way, thank you for reading!

 **Kerlongsj Evert Orlejov:** Hey, good to see you again, it's been a while. I'm glad to know you saw Charlotte coming from a mile away, haha. Also Meusel just makes for a good antagonist to pin everything on since she's about the only "leader" we've seen in the story. I could go out of my way to make another antagonist but like, I guess I'm just too lazy to do that, haha. I guess we'll see if the pile of secrets ends up breaking Meusel or not. Thanks for coming around, good to see you again!

 **Axccel:** I will admit that Katalina's thoughts are short-sighted lmao. To be honest I think it was a bit rushed and I should've thought out her plan more, but I think I ended up stumbling into something better where it served to highlight just what kind of person Meusel was. When put next to Katalina, Meusel's vision of her future and how to steer everything into it are only emphasized, along with emphasizing how Meusel sees the bigger picture (as she mentions that she herself hunts pilots down). Maybe I'll go back sometime and change it to be less shortsighted, but I think the effect it had was something interesting.

 **Well, that's all from me. Catch you guys next chapter!**


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